Coronavirus and Cognitive Dissonance, Behavior of Pakistanis During Pandemic Peak: A Study of Educated and Uneducated Citizens of Lahore

Abstract

Purpose: This research aims to investigate the behavior of the citizenry residing in Provincial Capital of Pakistan’s largest populated province of Punjab.
 Methodology: Based on quantitative approach, a questionnaire with closed ended questions was distributed between two divisions of society – educated and uneducated – to measure their behavior towards the pandemic. The researchers have made an attempt to measure the cognitive dissonance of the society towards COVID with this hypothetical assumption that uneducated people would bother least as compared to the educated class.
 Findings: The research concluded the educated class had adopted more precautionary measures as compared to the uneducated class. However, there was a slight negation in awareness level of the educated and uneducated class regarding the pandemic. More precisely, the findings also surfaced cognitive dissonance theory in relation to the education, implying that regardless of the COVID-19 awareness and the spread, uneducated people are more likely in the state of cognitive dissonance that the educated people. 
 Implications: Pakistani government as well as masses need to follow the response strategies of the government and awareness methods adopted by the people of China.