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For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the first outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many people expressed hatred toward others whom they believed were responsible for the situation. Such increase in negative affect could be resultant of the better-than-average effect (BTAE), which refers to the phenomenon of beli...

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Autores principales: Kim, Min Young, Han, Kyueun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8752174/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35035196
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02548-z
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author Kim, Min Young
Han, Kyueun
author_facet Kim, Min Young
Han, Kyueun
author_sort Kim, Min Young
collection PubMed
description During the first outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many people expressed hatred toward others whom they believed were responsible for the situation. Such increase in negative affect could be resultant of the better-than-average effect (BTAE), which refers to the phenomenon of believing that one is superior to average others. This study investigated the relationship between the BTAE and emotional valence toward others and tested whether the relationship was moderated by allocentric goals (i.e., concerned with the interests of others rather than themselves) and culture. Participants from the U.S. (N = 210) and South Korea (N = 214) were asked about their perceptions on whether they were better than others at preventing the COVID-19 infection, how they felt about others regarding COVID-19, and for whom they were preventing COVID-19. The results indicated that people showing more BTAE in relation to preventing the COVID-19 infection reported more negative emotional valence toward others, but the relationship was moderated by allocentric goals. In particular, the U.S. participants with higher allocentric goals reported less negatively valenced emotions, while the same was not found in Korean participants. The findings suggest the power of allocentric goals in diminishing the BTAE in some cultures, which may possibly explain the negative emotions some people experience when following social distancing rules.
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spelling pubmed-87521742022-01-12 For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic Kim, Min Young Han, Kyueun Curr Psychol Article During the first outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many people expressed hatred toward others whom they believed were responsible for the situation. Such increase in negative affect could be resultant of the better-than-average effect (BTAE), which refers to the phenomenon of believing that one is superior to average others. This study investigated the relationship between the BTAE and emotional valence toward others and tested whether the relationship was moderated by allocentric goals (i.e., concerned with the interests of others rather than themselves) and culture. Participants from the U.S. (N = 210) and South Korea (N = 214) were asked about their perceptions on whether they were better than others at preventing the COVID-19 infection, how they felt about others regarding COVID-19, and for whom they were preventing COVID-19. The results indicated that people showing more BTAE in relation to preventing the COVID-19 infection reported more negative emotional valence toward others, but the relationship was moderated by allocentric goals. In particular, the U.S. participants with higher allocentric goals reported less negatively valenced emotions, while the same was not found in Korean participants. The findings suggest the power of allocentric goals in diminishing the BTAE in some cultures, which may possibly explain the negative emotions some people experience when following social distancing rules. Springer US 2022-01-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8752174/ /pubmed/35035196 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02548-z Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Kim, Min Young
Han, Kyueun
For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort for me or for others? the better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8752174/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35035196
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02548-z
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