Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
11-2022
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic social changes for many, including separation from friends and coworkers, enforced close contact with family, reductions in mobility, and a number of other health-related precautions. Here we assess the extent to which people’s evolutionarilyrelevant basic motivations and goals—their fundamental social motives—might have been affected. To address this question, we gathered data on these motives in 42 countries (N=15,915) in two waves, including 19 countries (N=10,907) for which data were gathered both before and during the pandemic (Pre-pandemic wave: 32 countries, N=8998; 3302 male, 5585 female; Mage=24.43, SD=7.91; Mid-pandemic wave: 29 countries, N=6917; 2249 male, 4218 female; Mage=28.59, SD=11.31). Samples include data collected online (e.g., Prolific, MTurk), at universities, and via community sampling. We found that Disease Avoidance motivation was substantially higher during the pandemic, and that there were small yet significant differences across waves in most of the other fundamental social motives. Most sensibly, concern with caring for one’s children was higher during the pandemic, and concerns with Mate Seeking and Status were lower. Earlier findings showing the prioritization of family motives over mating motives (and even over Disease Avoidance motives) were replicated during the pandemic. Finally, well-being remained positively associated with family motives and negatively associated with mating motives during the pandemic, as it had in the pre-pandemic samples. Our results provide further evidence for the robust primacy of family-related motivations even during this unique disruption of social life
Keywords
COVID-19, Family, Fundamental social motives, Cross-cultural research, Life satisfaction
Discipline
Family, Life Course, and Society | Health Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Evolution and Human Behavior
Volume
43
Issue
6
First Page
527
Last Page
535
ISSN
1090-5138
Identifier
10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.09.003
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
PICK, Cari M., & et. al., .(2022). Family still matters: Human social motivation across 42 countries during a global pandemic. Evolution and Human Behavior, 43(6), 527-535.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3732
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.09.003