Personality traits explain levels of norm compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social norms refer to unwritten rules or expectations that guide people's behavior in a given social setting. Norms often dictate how people should behave and communicate, among other things. Recent studies showed pronounced cross-cultural and individual differences in norm compliance. The current study explored the role of individual propensity to cooperate, culture and personality traits, such as Dark Triad and empathy (measured by Davis's questionnaire), in norm compliance to a newly introduced norm of wearing masks in public as a protective measure against COVID-19 in 2020-2021. In the current study, we investigated Swiss and Russian resident participants while they performed a public goods game (PGG) with additional reward and punishment conditions and completed the questionnaires on attitudes toward the norm of mask-wearing during COVID-19, interpersonal reactivity index and personality traits (narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy). We found that individual motivation to cooperate or defect in a modified PGG did not predict the level of compliance to the protective norm of mask-wearing, while personality traits, such as Emphatic Concern, were significantly positively associated with the self-reported level of compliance with the norm of mask-wearing.