‘Yet, Here We Are’: Use of Collective Historical Narrative in Building Solidarity and Well-Being Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Organizing collective memory around a coherent narrative could be a powerful socio-psychological tool in mobilizing group members and buffering against uncertainty during a societal crisis. Therefore, we investigated if the consensually shared historical narrative could be used as such a resource in preserving emotional well-being and building solidarity to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. In our study (N=107), we introduced the control and experimental group in which we primed the participants with a widespread historical narrative of Serbian resilience facing an external threat. To check if the narrative resonates with participants, they tried to describe one example from national history in accordance with the narrative. Content analysis showed that 82.6% of the experimental group validated the narrative, where some examples were living historical memories (e.g. NATO bombing of Yugoslavia), while others were institutionalized cultural memories (e.g. five-century subjugation and rebellion against the Ottoman empire). Using moderated mediation analysis, we confirmed that narrative manipulation predicted more willingness to help compatriots suffering from the pandemic and adherence to COVID-19 health guidelines via higher collective efficacy, except among low-identifying individuals. The same indirect path predicted lower emotional distress, but unexpectedly not in the group of high-identifying participants. Our results demonstrate the case of how "the past weighs on the present" in the Serbian context. More precisely, the dominant historical narrative acts as a resource that provides action guidelines and empowers group members in coping with current pandemic, even considering the issue is not intergroup-based.