AUTHOR=Conway Lucian Gideon , Woodard Shailee R. , Zubrod Alivia , Tiburcio Marcela , Martínez-Vélez Nora Angélica , Sorgente Angela , Lanz Margherita , Serido Joyce , Vosylis Rimantas , Fonseca Gabriela , Lep Žan , Li Lijun , Zupančič Maja , Crespo Carla , Relvas Ana Paula , Papageorgiou Kostas A. , Gianniou Foteini-Maria , Truhan Tayler , Mojtahedi Dara , Hull Sophie , Lilley Caroline , Canning Derry , Ulukök Esra , Akın Adnan , Massaccesi Claudia , Chiappini Emilio , Paracampo Riccardo , Korb Sebastian , Szaflarski Magdalena , Touré Almamy Amara , Camara Lansana Mady , Magassouba Aboubacar Sidiki , Doumbouya Abdoulaye , Mutlu Melis , Bozkurt Zeynep Nergiz , Grotkowski Karolina , Przepiórka Aneta M. , Corral-Frías Nadia Saraí , Watson David , Corona Espinosa Alejandro , Lucas Marc Yancy , Paleari Francesca Giorgia , Tchalova Kristina , Gregory Amy J. P. , Azrieli Talya , Bartz Jennifer A. , Farmer Harry , Goldberg Simon B. , Rosenkranz Melissa A. , Pickett Jennifer , Mackelprang Jessica L. , Graves Janessa M. , Orr Catherine , Balmores-Paulino Rozel TITLE=How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937211 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937211 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.