Pandemics past: Collective memories for a global community?

Abstract

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.