“Solidarity:” A failed call to action during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Global health leaders evoked the concept of “solidarity” to unite citizens in efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Historically the term has been used in different domains (politics and labor) and in connection to different crises (refugees, immigration, and climate change). Was “solidarity” a useful rallying cry? To assess the impact of health communication efforts to motivate citizen action, surveys were administered at three key moments in the first two years of the pandemic: June 2020 as cases declined globally (n = 90); October 2020 during the second wave of infections in Europe and the US (n = 96); and March 2021 when vaccines became available to adults (n = 100). Calls for solidarity motivate fleeting efforts, irrespective of perceived risk, and are less likely to inspire action for the public good as compared to other motivators such as team reasoning and compassion. While the pandemic revealed the capacity of citizens to support one another in the absence of state intervention, calls for solidarity are ineffective in inspiring long-term engagements toward a common good.