The Role of Affect, Satisfaction and Internal Drive on Personal Moral Norms during COVID-19

Background and Objective

Societies require prosocial activities during crises. The COVID-19 pandemic presents individuals with unique challenges that may affect their emotional state leading to reformed personal moral norms. Crucially, personal moral norms are important predictors of moral behaviour. Given the longevity of the pandemic, studying its impact on affect, satisfaction and internal drive of (non-)donors during COVID-19 and if personal moral norms are affected is paramount.

Material and Methods

This study relies on longitudinal data, consisting of six waves carried out biweekly. Our panel is representative for the German population, capturing changes in affect, satisfaction, internal drive and personal moral norms. We compare the emotional state and personal moral norms of (non-)donors in the pandemic to pre-pandemic phase. Moreover, we analyse changes in emotional state and personal moral norms during the pandemic and investigate the role of emotional state on personal moral norms.

Results

Firstly, our results show that personal moral norms of (non-)donors drop compared to pre-pandemic. Within pandemic, personal moral norms of active donors are not further altered. Secondly, we find significant changes of emotional state in the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic phase, for example individuals feel more optimistic, but less satisfied and less energetic. Thirdly, we find that feeling more grateful increases personal moral norms of non-donors.

Conclusion

This study provides insights into how crises shape (non-)donors’ emotional state and its impact on relevant donor motivations, that is, personal moral norms. Blood banks can use this knowledge to enhance recruiting and retention efforts during crises.

研究背景与研究目标

社会在危机时期亟需亲社会行为。新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）大流行给个体带来了独特挑战，这些挑战可能影响其情绪状态，进而改变其个人道德规范。尤为关键的是，个人道德规范是道德行为的重要预测因子。鉴于本次大流行持续周期较长，探究其对新冠疫情期间（非）捐赠者的情绪、满意度及内在驱动力的影响，以及个人道德规范是否会受其影响，具有重要意义。

材料与方法

本研究采用纵向调研数据，共包含6次每两周开展一次的调研波次。本研究的面板样本具有德国民众代表性，可捕捉情绪、满意度、内在驱动力及个人道德规范的变化情况。我们将疫情期间（非）捐赠者的情绪状态与个人道德规范与大流行前阶段进行对比。此外，本研究分析了疫情期间情绪状态与个人道德规范的变化，并探究了情绪状态对个人道德规范的影响作用。

研究结果

第一，研究结果显示，与大流行前相比，（非）捐赠者的个人道德规范有所下降。在疫情期间，活跃捐赠者的个人道德规范未发生进一步变化。第二，与大流行前阶段相比，疫情期间个体的情绪状态出现显著变化：例如，个体感觉更乐观，但满意度与精力感均有所降低。第三，研究发现，更强烈的感恩情绪可提升非捐赠者的个人道德规范。

研究结论

本研究揭示了危机如何塑造（非）捐赠者的情绪状态，及其对捐赠者核心动机——个人道德规范的影响。血站可借助该研究成果，优化危机时期的捐赠者招募与留存工作。