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Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics
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Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 40291

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Marina Butovskaya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS, Moscow, Russia
Interests: evolution of human behavior; African studies; aggression and conflict management; marriage partner choice; sexual selection; altruism and cooperation; cross-cultural psychology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

Understanding human nature is one of the central goals of behavioral and cognitive sciences, as well as philosophy, anthropology, sociology and linguistics. Evolutionary psychology provides its own vision of human nature as a universal set of evolved psychological adaptations to solving problems in the ancestral environment. It is of special interest how such emotional and cognitive adaptations enable humans to cope with current ecological and social problems. The goal of this issue is to provide an evolutionary sound understanding of human behavior in situations of pandemics, particularly during COVID-19. In line with the primary focus of evolutionary psychology on the “why” question, it is expected that participating authors will discuss different aspects of human behavior and emotional reactions to stressful situations and provide explanations in the light of evolutionary psychological approaches. The following questions are of special interest: Whether ecology, particularly familiarity with pathogens in everyday life, influences personal fear and stress reaction towards pandemics; why cooperation and altruism towards relatives and friends are increasing during pandemics; why the fear of being infected influences attitudes toward strangers; why and if a recent lockdown affected relations in couples; whether personality traits influence willingness to help others in the period of pandemics; whether cooperation with others improves individual wellbeing in the time of pandemics. Discussing cultural differences in reaction to pathogen threat from the perspective of specific group adaptations, revealing age and sex differences in reaction to pandemics and testing pathogen threat effects on social distancing will be within the scope of this issue as well.

Prof. Marina Butovskaya
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • evolutionary psychology
  • pandemics
  • social distancing
  • cooperation
  • hostility
  • kinship
  • in-group
  • our-group
  • sex differences

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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35 pages, 6065 KiB  
Article
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Role of Empathy during COVID-19’s First Wave
by Marina L. Butovskaya, Valentina N. Burkova, Ashley K. Randall, Silvia Donato, Julija N. Fedenok, Lauren Hocker, Kai M. Kline, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Fathil Bakir Mutsher Allami, Fadime Suata Alpaslan, Mohammad Ahmad Abdelaziz Al-Zu’bi, Derya Fatma Biçer, Hakan Cetinkaya, Oana Alexandra David, Seda Dural, Paige Erickson, Alexey M. Ermakov, Berna Ertuğrul, Emmanuel Abiodun Fayankinnu, Maryanne L. Fisher, Ivana Hromatko, Elena Kasparova, Alexander Kavina, Hareesol Khun-Inkeeree, Fırat Koç, Vladimir Kolodkin, Melanie MacEacheron, Irma Rachmawati Maruf, Norbert Meskó, Ruzan Mkrtchyan, Poppy Setiawati Nurisnaeny, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Damilola Adebayo, Mohd S. B. Omar-Fauzee, Barış Özener, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Igor V. Popov, Muhammad Rizwan, Agnieszka Sabiniewicz, Victoriya I. Spodina, Stanislava Stoyanova, Nachiketa Tripathi, Satwik Upadhyay, Carol Weisfeld, Mohd Faiz Mohd Yaakob, Mat Rahimi Yusof and Raushaniia I. Zinurovaadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7431; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137431 - 2 Jul 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6987
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, and concerns about psychological, social, and economic consequences are growing rapidly. Individuals’ empathy-based reactions towards others may be an important resilience factor in the face of COVID-19. Self-report data from 15,375 participants across 23 countries [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, and concerns about psychological, social, and economic consequences are growing rapidly. Individuals’ empathy-based reactions towards others may be an important resilience factor in the face of COVID-19. Self-report data from 15,375 participants across 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this study examined different facets of empathy—Perspective-Taking, Empathic Concern, and Personal Distress, and their association with cross-cultural ratings on Individualism, Power Distance, The Human Development Index, Social Support Ranking, and the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index, as well as the currently confirmed number of cases of COVID-19 at the time of data collection. The highest ratings on Perspective-Taking were obtained for USA, Brazil, Italy, Croatia, and Armenia (from maximum to minimum); on Empathetic Concern, for the USA, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, and Indonesia; and on Personal Distress, from Brazil, Turkey, Italy, Armenia, Indonesia. Results also present associations between demographic factors and empathy across countries. Limitations and future directions are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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23 pages, 3616 KiB  
Article
Predictors of Anxiety in the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Global Perspective: Data from 23 Countries
by Valentina N. Burkova, Marina L. Butovskaya, Ashley K. Randall, Julija N. Fedenok, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Fathil Bakir Mutsher Allami, Fadime Suata Alpaslan, Mohammad Ahmad Abdelaziz Al-Zu’bi, Derya Fatma Biçer, Hakan Cetinkaya, Oana Alexandra David, Silvia Donato, Seda Dural, Paige Erickson, Alexey M. Ermakov, Berna Ertuğrul, Emmanuel Abiodun Fayankinnu, Maryanne L. Fisher, Lauren Hocker, Ivana Hromatko, Elena Kasparova, Alexander Kavina, Yahya M. Khatatbeh, Hareesol Khun-Inkeeree, Kai M. Kline, Fırat Koç, Vladimir Kolodkin, Melanie MacEacheron, Irma Rachmawati Maruf, Norbert Meskó, Ruzan Mkrtchyan, Poppy Setiawati Nurisnaeny, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Damilola Adebayo, Mohd S. B. Omar-Fauzee, Barış Özener, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Muhammad Rizwan, Agnieszka Sabiniewicz, Victoriya I. Spodina, Stanislava Stoyanova, Nachiketa Tripathi, Satwik Upadhyay, Carol Weisfeld, Mohd Faiz Mohd Yaakob, Mat Rahimi Yusof and Raushaniia I. Zinurovaadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 4017; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13074017 - 4 Apr 2021
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 10167
Abstract
Prior and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have resulted in substantial changes to everyday life. The pandemic and measures of its control affect mental health negatively. Self-reported data from 15,375 participants from 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early [...] Read more.
Prior and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have resulted in substantial changes to everyday life. The pandemic and measures of its control affect mental health negatively. Self-reported data from 15,375 participants from 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two questionnaires measuring anxiety level were used in this study—the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). The associations between a set of social indicators on anxiety during COVID-19 (e.g., sex, age, country, live alone) were tested as well. Self-reported anxiety during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic varied across countries, with the maximum levels reported for Brazil, Canada, Italy, Iraq and the USA. Sex differences of anxiety levels during COVID-19 were also examined, and results showed women reported higher levels of anxiety compared to men. Overall, our results demonstrated that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety were higher compared to those reported in general before pandemic. We conclude that such cultural dimensions as individualism/collectivism, power distance and looseness/tightness may function as protective adaptive mechanisms against the development of anxiety disorders in a pandemic situation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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16 pages, 1518 KiB  
Article
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Farm Households’ Vulnerability to Multidimensional Poverty in Rural China
by Yuan Li Liu, Kai Zhu, Qi Yao Chen, Jing Li, Jin Cai, Tian He and He Ping Liao
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1842; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041842 - 8 Feb 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4563
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the economy and livelihoods of people worldwide. To analyze the impact of the pandemic on material conditions, income levels, health conditions, industrial development and employment opportunities of farmers in China’s rural areas, especially poor areas and explore [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the economy and livelihoods of people worldwide. To analyze the impact of the pandemic on material conditions, income levels, health conditions, industrial development and employment opportunities of farmers in China’s rural areas, especially poor areas and explore whether farmers can achieve stable poverty eradication during the COVID-19 pandemic, we interviewed 2662 farm households in poverty-stricken areas of China and used the multidimensional poverty measurement model, three-step feasible generalized least squares and propensity score matching to analyze data. We achieved the following results. First, the overall level of multidimensional poverty vulnerability index (MPVI) of the surveyed households was low and the MPVI of each dimension varied significantly. The MPVI of households in the treated group was higher than that of the control group. Second, COVID-19 increased farm households’ vulnerability to multidimensional poverty in poverty-stricken regions; MPVI increased by 27.9%. Third, COVID-19′s impact on various dimensions differed: the greatest impact was on the vulnerability to health deprivation, followed by industrial development, employment and income deprivation. However, the pandemic slightly reduced the vulnerability to material deprivation. Finally, we proposed various measures in response to the impact of the pandemic to assist farm households in poverty-stricken areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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18 pages, 1725 KiB  
Article
A Behavioral Perspective on Community Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Paraisópolis in São Paulo, Brazil
by Fabio Bento and Kalliu Carvalho Couto
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1447; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031447 - 30 Jan 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6739
Abstract
The present article discusses the emergence and dynamics of community resilience by empirically investigating the case of the favela of Paraisópolis in São Paulo, Brazil. The emergence of innovative practices that initially contributed to significantly lower rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality when [...] Read more.
The present article discusses the emergence and dynamics of community resilience by empirically investigating the case of the favela of Paraisópolis in São Paulo, Brazil. The emergence of innovative practices that initially contributed to significantly lower rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality when compared to the city average is described. The analytical framework combines two conceptual perspectives in the study of complex systems. First, resilience in socio-ecological systems highlights the adaptation processes characterized by an interplay of previous experience and emerging new knowledge. Second, the metacontingency framework describes the interplay between a cultural milieu, as a context for cultural practices; an aggregate product; and a selecting environment that embed the acquisition and continuity of interlocking behavioral contingencies. Research methods that combine elements of the descriptive analysis and an exploratory basic qualitative study are employed to understand how the community has self-organized during this period. The findings demonstrate how previous experience with social challenges facilitated self-organization and the emergence of innovative practices in the context of uncoordinated public health measures during the pandemic in Brazil. Furthermore, findings from interviews indicate the existence of positive feedback loops at the community level that facilitated the emergence of innovative practices. This study aims at contributing to the understanding of community resilience by identifying the geographic, psychological, and ecological factors (contextual variables) that facilitate responses to the pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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18 pages, 2066 KiB  
Article
Sex Differences in Spatial Activity and Anxiety Levels in the COVID-19 Pandemic from Evolutionary Perspective
by Olga Semenova, Julia Apalkova and Marina Butovskaya
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1110; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031110 - 21 Jan 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3356
Abstract
Despite the enforced lockdown regime in late March 2020 in Russia, the phenomenon of the continued virus spreading highlighted the importance of studies investigating the range of biosocial attributes and spectrum of individual motivations underlying the permanent presence of the substantial level of [...] Read more.
Despite the enforced lockdown regime in late March 2020 in Russia, the phenomenon of the continued virus spreading highlighted the importance of studies investigating the range of biosocial attributes and spectrum of individual motivations underlying the permanent presence of the substantial level of spatial activity. For this matter, we conducted a set of surveys between March and June 2020 (N = 492). We found that an individual’s health attitude is the most consistent factor explaining mobility differences. However, our data suggested that wariness largely determines adequate health attitudes; hence, a higher level of wariness indirectly reduced individual mobility. Comparative analysis revealed the critical biosocial differences between the two sexes, potentially rooted in the human evolutionary past. Females were predisposed to express more wariness in the face of new environmental risks; therefore, they minimize their mobility and outdoor contacts. In contrast to them, the general level of spatial activity reported by males was significantly higher. Wariness in the males’ sample was less associated with the novel virus threat, but to a great extent, it was predicted by the potential economic losses variable. These findings correspond to the evolutionary predictions of sexual specialization and the division of family roles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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18 pages, 1950 KiB  
Article
Universalists or Utilitarianists? The Social Representation of COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil
by Luiz Antonio Joia and Flavia Michelotto
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10434; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410434 - 14 Dec 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3408
Abstract
A fierce debate arose in Brazil on how to manage and mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic—a debate derived from a dissonant perception by society about the actual significance of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazilian population has divided into two contrasting philosophical [...] Read more.
A fierce debate arose in Brazil on how to manage and mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic—a debate derived from a dissonant perception by society about the actual significance of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazilian population has divided into two contrasting philosophical approaches: the universalism—understanding life as an asset of infinite value and, therefore, more important than the country’s economic preservation—and the utilitarianism—where the focus is on the mitigation of the COVID 19 pandemic-enabled economic crisis, due to its potential devastating effect on people’s lives, thereby leaving health issues in the background. The main cause for these different sensemakings is associated with the lack of a monosemic definition for the “COVID-19 pandemic” construct. Thus, the objective of this article is to investigate the social representation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil through the Social Representation Theory operationalized by the word’s evocation technique. The results show that Brazilian society privileged prophylaxis and health, via social isolation, to the detriment of the country’s economic preservation. In addition, trends emphasized by experts, such as a post-pandemic “new-normal” and the digital transformation of society, played a peripheral role in the social representation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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15 pages, 4592 KiB  
Commentary
Local Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Indonesia
by Irem Sevindik, Mehmet Serkan Tosun and Serdar Yilmaz
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5620; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105620 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3775
Abstract
Local governments play an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. They can identify the local vulnerabilities and respond accordingly. In this commentary, we are examining the relationship between COVID-19 case and fatality numbers and provincial governments in Indonesia using correlations and data [...] Read more.
Local governments play an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. They can identify the local vulnerabilities and respond accordingly. In this commentary, we are examining the relationship between COVID-19 case and fatality numbers and provincial governments in Indonesia using correlations and data visualization. We use the public health development index, regional sustainable development index, competitiveness index, and their components as proxies for provincial government capacity and strength. We have found some evidence of a negative relationship between COVID-19 case fatality and death rates and various indices of provincial strength. The correlations are higher when we examine provinces in island regions, such as Java and Sumatra, separately. Some of our findings suggest that stronger provincial governments are a good defense against the pandemic. At the same time there are differences between regions, which is a concern in terms of all-of-government response to the pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior in Pandemics)
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