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

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Cultural tightness is defined by "the strength of social norms and the level of tolerance for deviance from such norms" (200). Cultural tightness 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 in study 3. The relationship between cultural tightness and number of days was significant for phase 6 (coefficient=2.82, p<.1), phase 7 (coefficient=5.67, p<.1), phase 9 (coefficient=4.20, p<.05), phase 10 (coefficient=2.63, p<.01), and phase 12 (coefficient=26.92, p<.05). The relationship between cultural tightness and average daily cases was significant for phase 8 (coefficient=-107.83, p<.1) and phase 12 (coefficient=-1074.92, p<.05). The relationship between cultural tightness and average daily case growth was significant for phase 8 (coefficient=-1.60, p<.1) and phase 12 (coefficient=-.32, p<.1). It does seem that cultural tightness did slow the speed of COVID-19, especially in the later stages of the pandemic, though its effect does not seem to be universal.