Mask Wearing Behavior and COVID-19: Synthetic Effects of Individualism and Collectivism in Korea

Abstract The behavior of the general public has largely been critical to the effective COVID-19 response. Republic of Korea has shown a better response performance than many other countries around the world. Based on the theories of individualism-collectivism, this study analyzes how the Korean culture influences the mask-wearing behavior of people in Korea. Two online surveys were conducted after the first wave and in the middle of third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. The results of regression analysis demonstrate that, when demographic variables are controlled, concerns around infecting others and respondents’ horizontal individualistic tendency have significant positive effects on mask wearing behavior. Meanwhile, horizontal collectivism also positively affects the respondents’ mask-wearing behavior as expected in collectivistic culture of Korean people. We conclude that the general collectivism of Korean people is mutually synergetic with the horizontal individualism in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.