Abstract
The ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a devastating impact worldwide. It is unclear as to what one expects during the “post-peak” and “post-pandemic” periods in terms of: (1) continued adherence to precautionary measures (e.g., wearing a mask) and (2) behaviors during these periods pertaining to widespread (anticipated) medical solutions that can buffer subsequent waves (e.g., vaccination and donating plasma). In this study, we examine predictors of individual differences in attitudes and behaviors with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and the months moving forward. Of the factors that contribute to how one might navigate the pandemic – a source of elevated environmental threat – life history orientation may play a crucial role. In this study, participants (n = 209) indicated their agreement with items on attitudes toward COVID-19 precautions and medical solutions that can buffer subsequent waves. In all models, we found significant positive relationships between one’s slow life history orientation and their self-reported adherence to precautions and endorsement of medical solutions. This effect was detectable even after controlling for factors related to political conservatism and personal experience with deleterious events as a result of the pandemic. Discussion includes reflection on the main finding, demographic variables, as well as the relationships uncovered among the modeled covariates (e.g., social conservatism, political conservatism).
Highlights
The ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has – in the United States alone – infected over 1.5 million people and has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 individuals (CDC as of June 1, 2020; cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019)
At the core of life history theory (LHT)1 is the appreciation for the enduring influence of information in early development being utilized as a forecast in service of meeting the environmental demands of later development (Ellis and Bjorklund, 2012)
Missingness was minimal with the exception of one item which was elective for participants
Summary
The ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has – in the United States alone – infected over 1.5 million people and has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 individuals (CDC as of June 1, 2020; cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019). Faced with the risk of premature death and forced to navigate a social environment with exploitative agents, fast strategists accelerate development and develop an orientation toward succeeding in the here and now. Faced with the risk of premature death and forced to navigate a social environment with exploitative agents, fast strategists accelerate development and develop an orientation toward succeeding in the here and These include risk taking, short term decision making, and decreased prosociality; these strategies are highly adaptive in environments where life is uncertain (Ellis et al, 2003; Simpson and Belsky, 2008; Del Giudice and Belsky, 2011)
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