Linking Cultural Tightness, Components of Norm Activation and COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors among University Students: Evidence from Beijing, China

Yang Zou; Xianwei Liu; Miaomiao Yu; Yichu Deng

doi:10.3390/ijerph20064905

Linking Cultural Tightness, Components of Norm Activation and COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors among University Students: Evidence from Beijing, China

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 10;20(6):4905. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20064905.

Authors

Yang Zou¹, Xianwei Liu^{2

3}, Miaomiao Yu⁴, Yichu Deng⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China.
² School of Public Administration, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
³ Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁴ Institute of Education Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁵ College of Holistic Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has imposed greater challenges and more stringent requirements on higher education institutions (HEIs). However, limited empirical research has been devoted to identifying external and internal factors that may promote individual preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic within the higher education context. This study proposed and examined an extended norm activation model (NAM) concerning the relationships among cultural tightness, original NAM components, and COVID-19 preventive behaviors. An online survey was conducted with a sample of 3693 university students from 18 universities in Beijing, China. The results showed that cultural tightness was positively associated with respondents' COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Three original NAM variables, namely, awareness of consequences, the ascription of responsibility, and personal norms, played a chain mediating role in the relationship between cultural tightness and COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications regarding the findings of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19 preventive behaviors; cultural tightness; norm activation model; university students.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Beijing / epidemiology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
China / epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics / prevention & control
Students
Universities

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Humanities and Social Sciences Planning Fund of the Ministry of Education (22YJA880031), Project of the Social Science Plan of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission (SM201910005004), Strategic Research Fund of Excellent Engineers Training Reform of Beihang University, Beijing Education Science Planning Youth Project (AECA21113) and The Chinese Society of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Research Project (2020MSA392).