COVID-19's Influence on Life History Strategy: Insights from Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis and Empirical Studies

Life history theory assumes that people in harsh environments tend to choose a fast life history strategy and prefer present benefits. Although many studies have provided supporting evidence, few have provided causal inferences. The COVID-19 offered an opportunity to settle this problem. This study explores the causal relationship between COVID-19 and life history strategy on macro and experimental levels. Study 1 used the COVID-19 epidemic as a natural experimental situation to conduct a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 42 studies (a total of 21,858 participants), which utilized the Mini-k scale to measure life history strategy in China before and during the epidemic. It was found that individuals exhibited lower life history strategy scale scores during the COVID-19 pandemic than before, suggesting a shift towards faster life history strategies following the outbreak of COVID-19. Study 2 employed an experimental study by manipulating participants' COVID-19 risk perception to provide more rigorous evidence. One hundred eighty-nine participants were recruited, and 92 were assigned to the experimental group. We found that people primed with higher COVID-19 risk had faster life history strategies, prioritizing immediate gains over future benefits. The two studies provide macro and experimental evidence for the causal link between COVID-19 and life history strategies.