How National Culture Influences the Speed of COVID-19 Spread: Three Cross-Cultural Studies

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Power distance is defined as "the extent to which less powerful individuals 'accept and expect that power is distributed unequally'" (195). It is examined in studies 1 and 2. Study 1: Power distance is tested against the length (in days) of each phase, the average daily cases of each phase, and the average daily case growth rate for each phase. The relationship between power distance and number of days is significant only for phase 12 (coefficient= -2.64, p<.05) (wrong direction), is significant for the average daily cases for phase 1 (coefficient= -.73, p<.1) and phase 12 (coefficient= 77.60, p<.1) (wrong direction), and significant for average daily case growth rates for phase 1 (coefficient= -.45, p<.05), phase 12 (coefficient= .02, p<.05) (weak relationship, wrong direction), and phase 13 (coefficient=.01, p<.05) (weak relationship, wrong direction). This seems to indicate that power distance was negatively related to the spread of COVID-19 only at the very beginning of the pandemic (phase 1), though this does not seem to have had an effect on the amount of time taken to hit 1000 cases (i.e. the end of phase 1). Study 2: Power distance is tested against the length (in days) of each phase, the average daily cases of each phase, and the average daily case growth rate for each phase. The relationship between power distance and number of days is significant for phase 3 (coefficient=32.28, p<.1), phase 5 (coefficient=9.29, p<.1), phase 6 (coefficient=4.17, p<.01). phase 9 (coefficient=11.87, p<.05), and phase 10 (coefficient=8.78, p<.05). The relationship between power distance and average daily cases is significant only for phase 1 (coefficient= -47.76, p<.05). The relationship between power distance and average daily case growth is also significant only for phase 1 (coefficient= -21.72, p<.05). This confirms the effect that power distance had on dampening the speed of COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as being associated with slower growth between 2,001 and 10,000 cases.