TY - JOUR
T1 - How national leaders keep 'us' safe
T2 - A longitudinal, four-nation study exploring the role of identity leadership as a predictor of adherence to COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions
AU - Frenzel, Svenja B
AU - Haslam, S Alexander
AU - Junker, Nina M
AU - Bolatov, Aidos
AU - Erkens, Valerie A
AU - Häusser, Jan A
AU - Kark, Ronit
AU - Meyer, Ines
AU - Mojzisch, Andreas
AU - Monzani, Lucas
AU - Reicher, Stephen D
AU - Samekin, Adil
AU - Schuh, Sebastian C
AU - Steffens, Niklas K
AU - Sultanova, Liliya
AU - Van Dijk, Dina
AU - van Zyl, Llewellyn E
AU - van Dick, Rolf
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/5/10
Y1 - 2022/5/10
N2 - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether citizens' adherence to health-protective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic is predicted by identity leadership, wherein leaders are perceived to create a sense of shared national identity. DESIGN: Observational two-wave study. Hypotheses testing was conducted with structural equation modelling. SETTING: Data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Germany, Israel and the USA in April/May 2020 and four weeks later. PARTICIPANTS: Adults in China (n=548, 66.6% women), Germany (n=182, 78% women), Israel (n=198, 51.0% women) and the USA (n=108, 58.3% women). MEASURES: Identity leadership (assessed by the four-item Identity Leadership Inventory Short-Form) at Time 1, perceived shared national identification (PSNI; assessed with four items) and adherence to health-protective NPIs (assessed with 10 items that describe different health-protective interventions; for example, wearing face masks) at Time 2. RESULTS: Identity leadership was positively associated with PSNI (95% CI 0.11 to 0.30, p<0.001) in all countries. This, in turn, was related to more adherence to health-protective NPIs in all countries (95% CI 0.03 to 0.36, 0.001≤p≤0.017) except Israel (95% CI -0.03 to 0.27, p=0.119). In Germany, the more people saw Chancellor Merkel as engaging in identity leadership, the more they adhered to health-protective NPIs (95% CI 0.04 to 0.18, p=0.002). In the USA, in contrast, the more people perceived President Trump as engaging in identity leadership, the less they adhered to health-protective NPIs (95% CI -0.17 to -0.04, p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: National leaders can make a difference by promoting a sense of shared identity among their citizens because people are more inclined to follow health-protective NPIs to the extent that they feel part of a united 'us'. However, the content of identity leadership (perceptions of what it means to be a nation's citizen) is essential, because this can also encourage people to disregard such recommendations.
AB - OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether citizens' adherence to health-protective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic is predicted by identity leadership, wherein leaders are perceived to create a sense of shared national identity. DESIGN: Observational two-wave study. Hypotheses testing was conducted with structural equation modelling. SETTING: Data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Germany, Israel and the USA in April/May 2020 and four weeks later. PARTICIPANTS: Adults in China (n=548, 66.6% women), Germany (n=182, 78% women), Israel (n=198, 51.0% women) and the USA (n=108, 58.3% women). MEASURES: Identity leadership (assessed by the four-item Identity Leadership Inventory Short-Form) at Time 1, perceived shared national identification (PSNI; assessed with four items) and adherence to health-protective NPIs (assessed with 10 items that describe different health-protective interventions; for example, wearing face masks) at Time 2. RESULTS: Identity leadership was positively associated with PSNI (95% CI 0.11 to 0.30, p<0.001) in all countries. This, in turn, was related to more adherence to health-protective NPIs in all countries (95% CI 0.03 to 0.36, 0.001≤p≤0.017) except Israel (95% CI -0.03 to 0.27, p=0.119). In Germany, the more people saw Chancellor Merkel as engaging in identity leadership, the more they adhered to health-protective NPIs (95% CI 0.04 to 0.18, p=0.002). In the USA, in contrast, the more people perceived President Trump as engaging in identity leadership, the less they adhered to health-protective NPIs (95% CI -0.17 to -0.04, p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: National leaders can make a difference by promoting a sense of shared identity among their citizens because people are more inclined to follow health-protective NPIs to the extent that they feel part of a united 'us'. However, the content of identity leadership (perceptions of what it means to be a nation's citizen) is essential, because this can also encourage people to disregard such recommendations.
KW - Adult
KW - COVID-19
KW - COVID-19/prevention & control
KW - Female
KW - Health policy
KW - Humans
KW - Leadership
KW - Male
KW - Masks
KW - Pandemics/prevention & control
KW - Public health
KW - SARS-CoV-2
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129790527&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054980
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054980
M3 - Article
C2 - 35537783
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
SP - e054980
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 5
M1 - e054980
ER -
