Shared family identity and communicatively managing the adaptation of family gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study examined how shared family identity and COVID-19 worry were associated with choices to adapt family gatherings during the pandemic. Participants (N = 314) reflected on a conversation with a family member outside their household regarding whether/how to hold a gathering. Results showed that higher COVID-19 worry predicted higher likelihood of making adaptations to gatherings by either taking COVID-19 precautions while gathering in person or calling off the in-person gathering. However, higher shared family identity was associated with lower likelihood of calling off the gathering and higher probabilities of gathering in person with or without precautions. When people felt a high sense of shared family identity with a family member who disagreed with them, the decisions regarding adapting the family gathering did not necessarily reflect their own levels of COVID-19 worry. In qualitative analyses of open-ended responses regarding family discussions about whether to gather, participants wished for family members to express more openness, respect and understanding, and behavioral intentions that aligned with their own views on COVID-19. How shared family identity affects choices about health interventions and the way family members prefer to communicatively manage disagreements are discussed in the framework of social identity theory and communication accommodation theory.