It is important to note that even though the pandemic is causing economic disruption, many communities are thriving. Food banks, homeless shelters, and other organizations across the country are receiving a surge in requests and donations, and they are not empty.
When you comply with social norms, you become a member of a social group and gain social acceptance.
When people comply, they become more accepted by peers, they gain respect, and they reduce the socially perceived risk of being rejected.
This pandemic has shown us the power of non-compliant behavior. It has demonstrated the importance of understanding that people comply with requests for socially prescribed behaviors because they want to be accepted by their peers. They want to signal their conformity to a social norm, as well as their good behavior and character. They want to appear trustworthy, and demonstrating their conformity will increase their perceived trustworthiness.
When most people think of pandemic causality, they tend to think of spread from one person to another. But pandemic spread also occurs through other mechanisms, such as from the environment to people and from people to people. One of the most important of these is the spread from person-to-person through close contact, such as by hand shaking. The main way humans spread infection is also by close contact.