The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany : fear, need for solidarity and conformity, authoritarianism and the desire to punish non-conforming individuals

Wüstner, Kerstin (author)

In crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic states, organizations, and individuals try to cope with a variety of challenges. The pandemic caused fear and some individuals felt a need for solidarity and conformity. A crisis such as the pandemic was likely to reinforce authoritarian attitudes. This paper aims to explore how these aspects were perceived during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether they contributed to the desire to punish non-conforming individuals. To this purpose, an online survey was conducted in Germany (n = 285). This study shows that punitive attitudes could be partly explained by expected solidarity, the need for conformity, fear of health damage caused by the COVID-19 virus – and a lack of fear of other consequences of the pandemic, and by authoritarian aggression. Due to the limitations of the small sample, the results can only provide some indications for further research, which are discussed in the conclusion.

• Language: English
• Keywords: authoritarianism, conformity, COVID-19, interpersonal trust, punitive attitudes, solidarity
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 41-57
• Numbering: Letn. 34
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175560
• UDC: 316.6:616-036.21
• ISSN on article: 2350-5141
• DOI: 10.20419/2025.34.605
• COBISS.SI-ID: 255795971
• Publication date in RUL: 04.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Psihološka obzorja : slovenska znanstveno-strokovna psihološka revija
• Publisher: Društvo psihologov Slovenije, Društvo psihologov Slovenije, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2350-5141
• COBISS.SI-ID: 271603200

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
• Description: A Creative Commons license that bans commercial use and requires the user to release any modified works under this license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Pandemija COVID-19 v Nemčiji : strah, potreba po solidarnosti in konformnosti, avtoritarnost in želja po kaznovanju nekonformističnih posameznikov

Abstract

V času kriznih situacij, kot je bila pandemija COVID-19, se države, organizacije in posamezniki poskušajo spopasti z različnimi izzivi. Pandemija je povzročila strah, nekateri posamezniki pa so čutili potrebo po solidarnosti in konformnosti. Kriza, kot je bila pandemija, je verjetno okrepila avtoritarna stališča. Namen tega prispevka je raziskati, kako so bili ti vidiki zaznani med pandemijo COVID-19 in ali so prispevali k želji po kaznovanju nekonformističnih posameznikov. V ta namen smo v Nemčiji izvedli spletno raziskavo (n = 285). Izsledki te študije kažejo, da je stališča do potrebnosti kaznovanja mogoče delno razložiti s pričakovano solidarnostjo, potrebo po konformizmu, strahom pred zdravstveno škodo, ki jo je povzročil virus COVID-19, pomanjkanjem strahu pred drugimi posledicami pandemije ter z avtoritarno agresivnostjo. Zaradi omejitev, ki jih prinaša majhen vzorec lahko rezultati ponudijo le nekaj napotkov za nadaljnje raziskave, ki so obravnavani v zaključku.

• Keywords: avtoritarnost, konformnost, COVID-19, medosebno zaupanje, stališča do kaznovanja, solidarnost