MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) As a large number of countries have been struggling to contain a massive second wave of COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, a small group of people continue to deny the severity of the new deadly virus as a way to manage their fear and stress amid the global pandemic, a US psychologist told Sputnik.
When the temperature dropped in most countries in the Northern Hemisphere in the fall, the number of new COVID-19 infections began to spike in both European Countries and countries in North America. To contain the second wave of mass infections, a number of countries, especially European countries such as France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, have introduced new restrictions or partial lockdowns.
At the same time, the new restrictions have led to a small group of people to stage protests against such measures, because most of them dismiss the dangers of COVID-19 and viewed the restrictive measures as overreach by authorities and violation of their basic freedoms and liberties.
Authorities in Italy had to deploy riot police to deal with anti-lockdown protesters this week amid violent clashes during the demonstrations. People who are against mask-wearing mandates also staged protests in Spain, Canada and the United States in recent weeks.
The protesters often argued that lockdowns, mask mandates and social distancing recommendations were unnecessary to contain a virus, which they viewed as mild and not dangerous.
Psychologists explained that such attitude of denial of the dangers of COVID-19, which has killed over one million people globally, could be a way for this group of individuals to cope with their fears and anxiety during the global pandemic.
"At the core of this issue is that fear and uncertainty about the pandemic creates anxiety and stress in people. To protect themselves against this anxiety people may seek out facts and accurate information (that is the science), however a realistic perspective is not always reassuring and comforting. The other way to lessen the fear and anxiety is to deny the science or to rationalize that it is not really as serious as the science suggests. This belief is further strengthened by joining a group of people who have similar beliefs," Mark Whitmore, a long-time psychologist and an associate professor in the College of business Administration at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, told Sputnik.
The expert pointed out that people's decision-making process also contributed to their denial of COVID-19.
"Our research has looked at the issues of whether people base their decisions on fantasy versus reality and the extent that they try to make sense of the pandemic by either relying on confirmatory bias or factual searching. People will often make decisions based on their beliefs, past experiences and hunches or intuition because this confirms their prior beliefs and is reassuring. They can lower their stress and anxiety even though their decisions to deny the severity of the pandemic and therefore not take the proper precautions can expose them to more risk," he said.
Despite the devastating global death toll of COVID-19, the older generation and people with chronic diseases appeared to be facing more fatality risks compared to the younger generation. Statistics from different countries showed that the fatality rate of COVID-19 was much lower in the younger age cohort.
This difference in fatality risks has led more young people to dismiss the severity of COVID-19.
Professor Whitmore explained that the younger generation's experiences with previous epidemics may have also played a role in their attitude towards COVID-19.
"Younger people for the most part have less personal experience with serious illness. Finally, the younger generations grew up at a time when medicines like antibiotics and vaccines had solved most of the world's major disease issues. Even a more current disease like Ebola primarily occurred in a different continent and was easily contained in the United States. This is their first experience with a pandemic, and it is easier to handle the potential stress this causes by either denying the existence of the disease or rationalize that it is not that serious," he said.
Nevertheless, the expert stressed that it was important for the younger generation to take precautions to protect others who could be more vulnerable to the new virus.
"There have been many communication campaigns to focus attention on the fact that you can be a carrier and even if you are not vulnerable you could spread the disease to someone in your family who is more vulnerable. The problem is that if you are in denial about the existence or seriousness of the disease, then these campaigns will not be effective," he said.
Compared to denials of COVID-19 in Europe and North America, most people in countries in East Asia, including China, South Korea and Japan, have not expressed similar views about the new virus. There were no protests against COVID-19 restrictions in East Asian countries and the public largely complied with the mask mandates without complaints.
Professor Whitmore pointed out that the cultural difference on collectivism likely played an important role in the different attitude towards COVID-19.
"The cultural difference at play may be Collectivism. There are two types In-group Collectivism which is the extent that people take pride in and are loyal to their families and organizations they belong, and Institutional Collectivism which is the extent that people are more motivated by what is good for their society as opposed to their personal goals and interests," he said.
The expert explained that a related study had demonstrated such differences.
"There was a study conducted called the GLOBE study in 2004 that looked at cultural differences in 62 countries. Confucian Asia (Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and Singapore) are higher in both In-group and Institutional Collectivism while Latin Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal) and Germanic Europe (Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland) are lower in Institutional Collectivism. The US, UK and Germanic Europe are lower in In-Group Collectivism," he said.
A number of Western leaders, including US President Donald Trump, have publicly downplayed the severity of COVID-19 and questioned the effectiveness of masks. Professor Whitmore believed such messages from politicians helped to amplify the denial of COVID-19.
"Finally, we have public figures that have claimed that it is like a flu which corroborates the decision to not take the disease seriously.... We also need our leaders in all areas to model the proper behavior. A favorite saying of mine is that leaders cast long shadows. When leaders do not wear masks and make statements that the pandemic is not so serious, this encourages the beliefs of the pandemic deniers," he said.
The expert expressed hopes that those who deny the severity of COVID-19 could still follow social distancing guidelines to protect their loved ones who might be more vulnerable to the new virus.
