Underlying role of moral orientation in vertical-horizontal individualism and collectivism perspective of social responsibility : a study of Singaporean attitudes towards breaking quarantine in epidemics.

Abstract

By and large the importance of quarantine in epidemic control has been globally underscored. Nevertheless, many nations still face the problem of people breaking quarantine. More importantly, previous studies could not fully account for cultural differences observed in this issue. A new model is proposed to better explain how cultures vary in moral reasoning that guides individual attitudes and behaviors. To test this model, an online survey regarding breaking quarantine was conducted with a Singapore sample. Survey results supported the model’s prediction that cultural orientation is related to moral orientation. Interestingly, scores on measures for individual variables disagreed with the survey results. Taking into account the limitations of this study, implications on future studies and epidemic interventions are discussed.