Collective memories support collective identities and provide lessons for group members to manage present challenges. Three surveys (total N = 1,137) tested whether U.S. nationals who strongly identify with all humanity (IWAH) were more interested in learning about pandemics in history as events that affected the whole world (Study 1) and more knowledgeable about past pandemics (Studies 2a and 2b). Stronger IWAH predicted greater interest in learning about past pandemics, but not greater knowledge of these events. Further, while IWAH was a consistent predictor of support for global cooperation for pandemic preparedness and, to a lesser extent, of compliance with COVID-19 health-protective behaviors, knowledge of past pandemics contributed modestly to these outcomes. These findings suggest that while past pandemics have the potential to become global memories, they are not yet actual global memories that inform a sense of global human identity and offer courses of action for the present.
AssmanA. (2010). The Holocaust—A global memory? Extensions and limits of a new memory community. In AssmanA.ConradS. (Eds.), Memory in a global age: Discourses, practices and trajectories (pp. 97–117). Palgrave Macmillan.
2.
AssmanJ. (1995). Collective memory and cultural identity. New German Critique, 65, 125–133. https://doi.org/10.2307/488538
3.
BajardM. P.StephensN.EidmanJ.WarrenK. T.MolinaroP.McDonough-ThayerC.RovalettiR.AcharyaS. P.GraaffP. J.SamaanG. (2022). Serving the vulnerable: The World Health Organization’s scaled support to countries during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, Article 837504. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.837504
4.
BarraganR. C.MeltzoffA. N. (2023). Prosociality and health: Identification with all humanity is a replicable predictor of prosocial motivation for health behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1052713. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1052713
5.
BarraganR. C.OliveiraN.KhalvetiK.BrooksR.ReineckeK.RaoR.MeltzoffA. (2021). Identifying with all humanity predicts cooperative health behaviors and helpful responding during COVID-19. PLoS One, 16, Article e0248234. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248234
6.
BatalhaL.ReynoldsK. J. (2012). ASPIRing to mitigate climate change: Superordinate identity in global climate negotiations. Political Psychology, 33(5), 743–759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00896.x
BeckerT. E.AtınçG.BreaughJ.CarlsonK.EdwardsJ.SpectorP. (2016). Statistical control in correlational studies: 10 essential recommendations for organizational researchers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(2), 157–167. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2053
9.
BilewiczM.WitkowskaM.StubigS.BenedaM.ImhoffR. (2017). How to teach about the Holocaust: Psychological obstacles in historical education in Poland and Germany. In PsaltisC.CarreteroM.Čehajić-ClancyS. (Eds.), History education and conflict transformation (pp. 169–197). Palgrave Macmillan.
10.
BrewerM. B.BuchanN. R.OzturkO.GrimaldaG. (2023). Parochial altruism and political ideology. Political Psychology, 44(2), 383–396. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12852
11.
BrownG.SusskindD. (2020). International cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(1S), 564–576. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/graa025
12.
BuchanN. R.BrewerM. B.GrimaldaG.WilsonR. K.FatasE.FoddyM. (2011). Global social identity and global cooperation. Psychological Science, 22, 821–828. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25835457
CarlsonK. D.WuJ. (2012). The illusion of statistical control: Control variable practice in management research. Organizational Research Methods, 15(3), 413–435. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428111428817
15.
CatlinJ. (2021). When does an epidemic become a crisis? Analogies between COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS in American public memory. Memory Studies, 14(6), 1445–1474. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211054355
16.
ChanH.WangX.ZuoS.ChiuC. P.LiuL.YouD. W.HongY. (2021). War against COVID-19: How is national identification linked with the adoption of disease preventive behaviors in China and the United States?Political Psychology, 42(5), 767–793. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12752
17.
ConnertonP. (1989). How societies remember. Cambridge University Press.
18.
DeutschM.MarcusE. C.BrazaitisS. (2012). A framework for thinking about developing a global community. In ColemanP. T.DeutschM. (Eds.), Psychological components of sustainable peace (pp. 299–324). Springer.
19.
DuffJ.LiuA.SaavedraJ.BatyckiJ.MorancyK.StockingB.GostinL.GaleaS.BertozziS.ZunigaJ.Alberto-BanatinC.DansuaA.del RioC.KulzhanovM.LeeK.ScagliaG.ShahparC.UllmannA.HoffmanS.. . . SzapocznikJ. (2021). A global public health convention for the 21st century. The Lancet Public Health, 6, e428–e433. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00070-0
20.
EisenbergM. (2021). Uses of history during the first nine months of COVID. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 64(3), 421–435. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2021.0034
21.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.BuchnerA.LangA.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
FritscheI.BarthM.JugertP.MassonT.ReeseG. (2018). A social identity model of pro-environmental action (SIMPEA). Psychological Review, 125(2), 245–269. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000090
24.
GalassoV.PonsV.ProfetaP.BecherM.BrouardS.FoucaultM. (2020). Gender differences in COVID-19 attitudes and behavior. Panel evidence from eight countries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 177(44), 27285–27291. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012520117
GhilaniD.LuminetO.ErbH.FlassbeckC.RosouxV.TamesI.KleinO. (2017). Looking forward to the past: An interdisciplinary discussion on the use of historical analogies and their effects. Memory Studies, 10(3), 274–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701609
27.
GuidryJ. P. D.PerrinP.LaestadiusL.VragaE.MillerC.FuemmelerB.BurtonC.RyanM.CarlyleK. (2021). U.S. Public support for COVID-19 vaccine donation to low- and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine, 39(17), 2452–2457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.03.027
28.
HalbwachsM. (1992). On collective memory (L. A. Coser, Trans.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1925)
29.
HamerK.McFarlandS.PenczekM. (2018). What lies beneath? Predictors of identification with all humanity. Personality and Individual Differences, 141, 258–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.12.019
30.
HamerK.PenczekM.BilewiczM. (2019). Between universalistic and defensive forms of group attachment. The indirect effects of national identification on intergroup forgiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 131, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.052
HiltonD. J.LiuJ. H. (2017). History as the narrative of a people: From function to structure and content. Memory Studies, 10(3), 297–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701612
33.
HirstW. (2020, May). Remembering crises: The problem of intergenerational forgetting [Keynote address]. Psychology of Global Crises Conference, Virtual conference organized by the American University of Paris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMpizbcEczs
JijonI. (2018). The universal king? Memory, globalization, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Sociological Inquiry, 88(1), 79–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12186
37.
Kamradt-ScottA. (2018). The politics of pandemic influenza preparedness. In McInnesC.LeeK.YoudeJ. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of global health politics (pp. 531–550). Oxford University Press.
38.
KerrJ.PanagopoulosC.van der LindenS. (2021). Political polarization on the COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States. Personality and Individual Differences, 179, Article 110892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110892
39.
KhojastehD.DavaniE.ShamsipourA.HaghaniA.GlamoreW. (2022). Climate change and COVID-19: Interdisciplinary perspectives from two global crises. Science of the Total Environment, 884, Article 157142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157142
40.
LevyD.SznaiderN. (2002). Memory unbound: The Holocaust and the formation of cosmopolitan memory. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(1), 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431002005001002
LiuJ. H.Goldstein-HawesR.HiltonD.HuangL.-L.Gastardo-ConacoC.Dresler-HawkeE.PittoloF.HongY.WardC.AbrahamS.KashimaY.KashimaE.OhashiM. M.YukiM.HidakaY. (2005). Social representations of events and people in the world history across twelve cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(2), 171–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022104272900
43.
LiuJ. H.HiltonD. (2005). How the past weighs on the present: Social representations of history and their role in identity politics. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466605X27162
44.
LiuJ. H.PaezD.SlawutaP.CabecinhasR.TechioE.KokdemirD.SenR.VinczeO.MulukH.FeixueW.ZlobinaA. (2009). Representing world history in the 21st Century: The impact of 9/11, the Iraq war, and the nation-state on dynamics of collective remembering. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40(4), 667–692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022109335557
45.
LoyL. S.TrogerJ.PriorP.ReeseG. (2021). Global citizens–global jet setters? The relation between global identity, sufficiency orientation, traveling and a socio-ecological transformation of the mobility system. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 622842. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622842
46.
MachK. J.Salas ReyesR.PentzB.TaylorJ.CostaC.CruzS.ThomasK.ArnoldJ.DonaldR.JagannathanK.KirchhoffC.RosellaL.KlenkN. (2021). News media coverage of COVID-19 public health and policy information. Humanities & Social Sciences Communication, 8, Article 220. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00900-z
47.
MaraniM.KatulG. G.PanW. K.ParolariA. J. (2021). Intensity and frequency of extreme novel epidemics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 118, Article e2105482118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105482118
48.
MarchlewskaM.HamerK.BaranM.GorskaP.KaniastyK. (2022). COVID-19: Why do people refuse vaccination? The role of social identities and conspiracy beliefs: Evidence from nationwide samples of Polish adults. Vaccines, 10, Article 268. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020268
49.
McCloskeyB.DarO.ZumlaA.HeymannD. (2014). Emerging infectious diseases and pandemic potential: Status quo and reducing risk of global spread. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14, 1001–1010. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70846-1
50.
McCrightA. M.DunlapR. E. (2011). The politicization of climate change and polarization in the American public’s views of global warming, 2001–2010. The Sociological Quarterly, 52(2), 155–194. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2011.01198.x
51.
McFarlandS.HackettJ.HamerK.Katzarska-MillerI.MalschA.ReeseG.ReysenS. (2019). Global human identification and citizenship: A review of psychological studies. Political Psychology, 40(1S), 141–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12572
52.
McFarlandS.WebbM.BrownD. (2012). All humanity is my ingroup: A measure and studies of identification with all humanity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 830–853. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028724
53.
MisztalB. (2010). Collective memory in a global age: Learning how and what to remember. Current Sociology, 58(1), 24–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392109348544
54.
NuzzoJ.GostinL. (2022). The first 2 years of COVID-19: Lessons to improve preparedness for the next pandemic. JAMA, 327, 217–218. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.24394
55.
OlesenT. (2012). Global injustice memories: The 1994 Rwanda genocide. International Political Sociology, 6(4), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/ips.12003
56.
PennebakerJ. W.PaezD.DeschampsJ. (2006). Social psychology of history: Defining the most important events of the last 10, 100, and 1000 years. Psicología Política, 32, 15–32. https://doi.org/2010-23557-002
PhinneyJ. S. (2006). Ethnic identity exploration in emerging adulthood. In BrowningD. L. (Ed.), Adolescent identities: A collection of readings (pp. 47–66). The Analytic Press.
59.
ReeseG.ProchJ.FinnC. (2015). Identification with all humanity: The role of self-definition and self-investment. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(4), 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2102
RoedigerH. L.AbelM.UmanathS.ShafferR.FairfieldB.TakahashiM.WertschJ. V. (2019). Competing national memories of World War II. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 116, 16678–16686. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907992116
62.
RoedigerH. L.WertschJ. (Eds.). (2022). National memories: Constructing identities in populist times. Oxford University Press.
63.
RosenmannA.ReeseG.CameronJ. E. (2016). Social identities in a globalized world: Challenges and opportunities for collective action. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(2), 202–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615621272
64.
ShumwayS.HopperJ.TolmanE.FergusonD.HubbleG.PattersonD.JensenJ. (2021). Predictors of compliance with COVID-19 related non-pharmaceutical interventions among university students in the United States. PLoS One, 16, Article e0252185. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252185
65.
SparkmanD. J. (2022). Identification with all humanity and health-related behaviors during COVID-19. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(6), 1389–1409. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302221101323
66.
SparkmanD. J.EidelmanS. (2018). “We are the human family.” Multicultural experiences predict less prejudice and greater concern for human rights through identification with humanity. Social Psychology, 49(3), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000337
67.
SparkmanD. J.HamerK. (2020). Seeing the human in everyone: Multicultural experiences predict more positive intergroup attitudes and humanitarian helping through identification with all humanity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 79, 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.08.007
StoneC. B.JayA. C. V. (2019). From the individual to the collective: The emergence of a psychological approach to collective memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(4), 504–515. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3564
70.
StroebeW.vanDellenM.AbakoumkinG.LemayE.Jr.SchiavoneW.AgostiniM.BelangerJ.GutzkowB.KreienkampJ.ReitsemaA.KhaiyomJ.AhmediV.AkkasH.AlmenaraC.AttaM.BagciS.BaselS.KidaE.BernardoA.. . . LeanderN. (2021). Politicization of COVID-19 health-protective behaviors in the United States: Longitudinal and cross-national evidence. PLoS One, 16, Article e0256740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256740
71.
SyedM.WalkerH. M.LeeR. M.ZamboangaB. L.ArmentaB. E.Umana-TayloA. J.SchwartzS. J.HuynhQ. (2013). A two-factor model of ethnic identity exploration: Implications for identity coherence and well-being. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 19(12), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030564
72.
Van BavelJ.CichockaA.CapraroV.SjastadH.NezlekJ.PavlovicT.AlfanoM.GelfandM.AzavedoF.BirtelM.CislakA.LockwoodP.RossR.AbstK.AgadullinaE.ArutaJ.BesharatiS.BorA.ChomaB.BoggioP. (2022). National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic. Nature Communications, 13, Article 517. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9
73.
Van LangeP. A. M.RandD. G. (2022). Human cooperation and the crises of climate change, COVID-19, and misinformation. Annual Review of Psychology, 73, 379–402. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-110044
74.
Vinitzky-SeroussiV.MaraschinM. J. (2021). Between remembrance and knowledge: The Spanish flu, COVID-19, and the two poles of collective memory. Memory Studies, 14(6), 1475–1488. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211054357
WangZ.JettenJ.SteffensN.AlvarezB.BentleyS.CasaraB. G. S.CrimstonC.IonescuO.KrugH.SelvanathanH. P.TanjitpiyanondP.WibisonoS.ChenS.WangJ.ZhangX.SunS. (2023). A world together: Global citizen identification as a basis for prosociality in the face of COVID-19. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(1), 71–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211051619
77.
WertschJ. V. (2009). Collective memory. In BoyerP.WertschJ. V. (Eds.), Memory in mind and culture (pp. 117–137). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626999.008
YoudeJ. (2017). Covering the cough? Memory, remembrance, and influenza amnesia. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 63(3), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12402
80.
ZagefkaH. (2021). Prosociality during COVID-19: Globally focused solidarity brings greater benefits than nationally focused solidarity. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 32(1), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2553
81.
ZylbermanP. (2010). Influenza epidemics and the politics of historical analogy: Indelible yet not commemorated. In Giles-VernickT.CraddockS.GunnJ. (Eds.), Influenza and public health: Learning from past pandemics (pp. 84–90). Earthscan Publications.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
