Disparagement humor permits unsafe COVID-19 behaviors: A prejudiced norm perspective

Extending prejudiced norm theory, we hypothesized that memes diminishing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic promote tolerance of unsafe pandemic behaviors (as in contrary to contemporary advice of public health agencies, i.e., not wearing a protective mask) by establishing a perceived norm of tolerance for such behaviors. In Spring 2021, members of several Reddit communities (n = 106) reported their perceived threat of COVID-19 and then completed a roleplay exercise in which they imagined they were with a group of friends in a church setting. In this context, participants viewed memes shared among their friends that belittled COVID-19 (COVID-19 disparagement condition) or memes unrelated to COVID-19 (control condition). Then, participants responded to a vignette describing a woman confronting an usher about a couple who violated protocol by not wearing masks. The results supported our hypothesis. First, participants in the COVID-19 disparagement condition perceived a greater norm of tolerance of the mask protocol violation among others in the immediate context compared to those in the control condition. Second, for participants who viewed COVID-19 as a low threat, that local norm resulted in greater personal tolerance of the mask protocol violation. However, for participants who view COVID-19 as a high threat, the local norm had no impact on their personal tolerance.     

Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being of the Central and Eastern European’s Elderly Population

The paper examines the relation between religiosity and cognitive appraisal of the subjective well-being of the Central and Eastern European’s elderly population. The first part of the paper is dedicated to examining of the scientific literature. In the second part, the authors explore the data basis corresponding to the 6th wave of World Value Survey. The authors use the heterogeneous correlation and the multi-linear regression analysis in order to explain the relation between religiosity and subjective well-being of the old aged. Our results suggest that in the case of the Central Eastern European elderly satisfaction with life is mostly influenced by health and income. It is likely that for Central and Eastern European’s elders religious practices do not sufficiently influence their life satisfaction.