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A research study led by the Anthropology department at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in collaboration with the University of Seville, which included 27 countries, found that in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, people who held traditional values tended to support stricter safety measures against the disease.
A recent study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports has found that individuals who strongly believe in traditional values and respect for traditions are more likely to support strict precautionary measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in 27 countries, with the participation of the University of Seville and the department of Anthropology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Earlier researches had already suggested a connection between greater traditionalism and a higher level of awareness regarding external threats. These studies measured psychological traditionalism as an overall variable based on the participants' answers to a set of questions regarding their evaluation of traditions or their disagreement with statements such as "People should challenge social traditions to advance society." In short, they preferred traditional values over other values.
Distrust of science hid the effect
While the link between traditionalism and precautionary measures against the pandemic may seem counter-intuitive based on high-profile cases of resistance to public health recommendations in some traditionalist or conservative communities, the recent international study found that individuals who strongly value traditions were more likely to support stricter precautionary measures. However, the study also acknowledged that traditionalism can sometimes coexist with a distrust of science or a different perspective on economic and social priorities.
So, despite some high-profile cases where traditionalist communities opposed public health recommendations, the recent international study found a link between traditionalism and support for precautionary measures against the pandemic, which may seem counter-intuitive. However, the study suggests that this effect of traditionalism on precautionary behaviors is greater when other factors such as distrust of science or economic priorities are taken into account. In other words, a traditionalist person is likely to show more support for precautionary measures against threats like COVID if they have the same attitudes towards science and the economy as non-traditionalist people.
Basic, and applied, research
Professor Hugo Viciana, from the department of Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of Seville, conducted the work carried out in Spain.
Hugo Viciana highlights the significance of the anthropological aspect of human attachment to traditions, which is revealed by the data obtained from this study. He emphasizes that the comparison of data across 27 countries provides fascinating insights into this dimension of human behavior.
In addition, he confirmed that “studies such as this one can help to design the communication of public health measures by revealing details that had previously been undetected.”
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