Warmth and competence perceptions of key protagonists are associated with containment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 35 countries

Friehs M.-T. Kotzur P.F. Kraus C. Schemmerling M. Herzig J.A. Stanciu A. Dilly S. Hellert L. Hübner D. Rückwardt A. Ulizcay V. Christ O. Brambilla M. De keersmaecker J. Durante F. Gale J. Grigoryev D. Igou E.R. Javakhishvili N. Kienmoser D. Nicolas G. Oldmeadow J. Rohmer O. Sætrevik B. Barbedor J. Bastias F. Bjørkheim S.B. Bolatov A. Duran N. Findor A. Götz F. Graf S. Hakobjanyan A. Halkias G. Hancheva C. Hřebíčková M. Hruška M. Husnu S. Kadirov K. Khachatryan N. Macedo F.G. Makashvili A. Martínez-Muñoz M. Mercadante E. Mesesan Schmitz L. Michael A. Mullabaeva N. Neto F. Neto J. Ozturk M. Paschenko S. Pietraszkiewicz A. Psaltis C. Qiu Y. Rupar M. Samekin A. Schmid K. Sczesny S. Sun Y. Svedholm-Häkkinen A.M. Szymkow A. Teye-Kwadjo E. Torres C.V. Vieira L. Yahiiaiev I. Yzerbyt V.
December 2022 Nature Research

Scientific Reports
2022 #12 Issue 1

It is crucial to understand why people comply with measures to contain viruses and their effects during pandemics. We provide evidence from 35 countries (N_total = 12,553) from 6 continents during the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2021 and 2022) obtained via cross-sectional surveys that the social perception of key protagonists on two basic dimensions—warmth and competence—plays a crucial role in shaping pandemic-related behaviors. Firstly, when asked in an open question format, heads of state, physicians, and protest movements were universally identified as key protagonists across countries. Secondly, multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses revealed that warmth and competence perceptions of these and other protagonists differed significantly within and between countries. Thirdly, internal meta-analyses showed that warmth and competence perceptions of heads of state, physicians, and protest movements were associated with support and opposition intentions, containment and prevention behaviors, as well as vaccination uptake. Our results have important implications for designing effective interventions to motivate desirable health outcomes and coping with future health crises and other global challenges.

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FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
GESIS Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim, Germany
University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Esade, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, United States
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Universidad Católica de Cuyo/National Scientific and Technical Research Council, San Juan, Argentina
Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Cyprus
University of Innovative and Social Economics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
Transilvania University of Brasov, Brașov, Romania
University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

FernUniversität in Hagen
Department of Psychology
GESIS Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften
University of Milano-Bicocca
Esade
University of Canterbury
HSE University
University of Limerick
Ilia State University
Rutgers University
Swinburne University of Technology
University of Strasbourg
University of Bergen
Université Catholique de Louvain
Universidad Católica de Cuyo/National Scientific and Technical Research Council
Astana Medical University
Comenius University in Bratislava
The University of British Columbia
The Czech Academy of Sciences
Yerevan State University
Copenhagen Business School
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
Eastern Mediterranean University
University of Innovative and Social Economics
University of Brasilia
Transilvania University of Brasov
University of Nicosia
National University of Uzbekistan
University of Porto
Universidade Portucalense
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
University of Bern
M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University
Tampere University
SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Ghana
Jagiellonian University

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