Cultural Differences in People's Psychological Response to COVID-19

Suhui Yap; Albert Lee; Li-Jun Ji; Ye Li; Ying Dong

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062

Cultural Differences in People's Psychological Response to COVID-19

Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 12:12:636062. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Suhui Yap¹, Albert Lee², Li-Jun Ji¹, Ye Li³, Ying Dong⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
² Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
³ Department of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Faculty of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

The present research studied Chinese and Euro-Canadian students during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on their affect, optimism, well-being, and meaning in life. The results revealed both differences and similarities across cultures. As predicted, Chinese participants reported more positive affect and less negative affect, higher optimism, higher state psychological well-being, and higher meaning presence, compared to Euro-Canadian participants. The findings were replicated after a week's delay. Analyses on longitudinal data showed that state optimism, state well-being, and meaning presence influenced one another over time. These variables also mediated the cultural differences in one another. These results are consistent with cultural work on naïve dialecticism and non-linear lay theory of change. Results also demonstrate underlying relationships among the constructs that are common to both cultural groups. Broadly, the present research highlights the impact of culture on people's response to challenging life situations and the mechanisms underlying these cultural differences.

Keywords: COVID-19; culture; meaning in life; optimism; state well - being.