Social norms, social identities and the COVID-19 pandemic : theory and recommendations
Abstract
Sustained mass behaviour change is needed to tackle the COVID‐19 pandemic, but many of the required changes run contrary to existing social norms (e.g., physical closeness with in‐group members). This paper explains how social norms and social identities are critical to explaining and changing public behaviour. Recommendations are presented for how to harness these social processes to maximise adherence to COVID‐19 public health guidance. Specifically, we recommend that public health messages clearly define who the target group is, are framed as identity‐affirming rather than identity‐contradictory, include complementary injunctive and descriptive social norm information, are delivered by in‐group members and that support is provided to enable the public to perform the requested behaviours.
Citation
Neville , F G , Templeton , A , Smith , J & Louis , W 2021 , ' Social norms, social identities and the COVID-19 pandemic : theory and recommendations ' , Social and Personality Psychology Compass , vol. 15 , no. 5 , e12596 . https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12596
Publication
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1751-9004Type
Journal article
Description
Funding information: Economic and Social Research Council grant awarded to FGN: ES/V005383/1.Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Strength in a weakened state : interpreting Hizb’allah’s experiences as a social movement and governing coalition in Lebanon 1985-2013
Bernhoff, Arthur (University of St Andrews, 2015-06-23) - ThesisThis study investigates Hizb’allah’s successful but competing dual development as an extra-institutional Shi’a social movement and an institutional political party. Hizb’allah has traditionally been studied from the ... -
Radical social innovations and the spatialities of grassroots activism : navigating pathways for tackling inequality and reinventing the commons
Apostolopoulou, Elia; Bormpoudakis, Dimitrios; Chatzipavlidis, Alexandros; Cortés Vázquez, Juan José; Florea, Ioana; Gearey, Mary; Levy, Julyan; Loginova, Julia; Ordner, James; Partridge, Tristan; Pizarro Choy, Alejandra; Rhoades, Hannibal; Symons, Kate; Veríssimo, Céline; Wahby, Noura (2022-04-05) - Journal articleIn this article, by drawing on empirical evidence from twelve case studies from nine countries from across the Global South and North, we ask how radical grassroots social innovations that are part of social movements and ... -
Wellbeing and social network characteristics in rural communities : findings from a cohort in social housing in Cornwall, United Kingdom
Long, Emily; Stevens, Sebastian; Topciu, Raluca; Williams, Andrew James; Taylor, Timothy; Morrissey, Karyn (2022-05-19) - Journal articleBackground: The mental wellbeing of those living in resource poor and rural localities is a public health priority. Despite evidence of a link between social networks and mental wellbeing, little is known about this ...