Reflection of Types of Pro-social Behaviour during COVID-19 in Collectivistic Asian Countries – India and Indonesia

Journal: Qualitative Health Research

Abstract: COVID-19 is an infectious disease that has widened the gap between victims and non-victims in society. Understanding how individuals support and assist COVID-19 sufferers in a pandemic crisis is critical. The authors evaluated the pro-social intention and types of pro-social behaviours used by the respondents toward COVID-19 victims. They focused on individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds in India and Indonesia, collectivistic societies. They conducted 50 semi-structured and in-depth interviews during the lockdown, from March to May 2020, via phone and in-person, using a purposive selection of respondents. The data was analysed using the qualitative synthesis method. Five themes were discovered: 1) too scared to help, 2) love to help but scared: moral dilemma, 3) informing authority who knows how to handle, 4) caring, sharing, and supporting, but with a distance, and 5) helping others at one’s personal health risk. This study highlights that pro-social intentions range from minor acts of kindness to self-harm and out-of-bounds acts of kindness for COVID-19 victims.