Social norms (not threat) mediate willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation

Identity fusion with the community has been previously found to mediate altruism in post-disaster settings. However, whether this altruistic response is specifically triggered by ingroup threat, or whether it can also be triggered by global threats remains unclear. We evaluated willingness to sacrif...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Pretus, Clara|||0000-0003-2172-1184, Vilarroya Oliver, Óscar|||0000-0001-8285-5624
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:264064
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/264064
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1002/ejsp.2851
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Costly sacrifices
COVID-19
Identity fusion
Prosocial behaviour
Social norms
Descripción
Sumario:Identity fusion with the community has been previously found to mediate altruism in post-disaster settings. However, whether this altruistic response is specifically triggered by ingroup threat, or whether it can also be triggered by global threats remains unclear. We evaluated willingness to sacrifice in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic across three survey waves. Against expectations, participants fused with the nation (vs. non-fused) did not differentially respond to a national versus global threat condition. Conversely, social norms decisively influenced willingness to sacrifice in this sample, with fused individuals with stronger norms about social distancing reporting the highest altruistic response during the first weeks of the pandemic. Longitudinally, after an initial peak in the altruistic response, deteriorating social norms mediated decreases in willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation (vs. non-fused). Implications of these results for the development of interventions aimed to address global challenges are discussed.