Never Waste a 'Good' Crisis! Priming the Economic Aspect of Crises Fosters Social Capital Build-Up and Prosociality

Do crises make people more prosocial? And what role does communication play in promoting such attitudes and behavior? These answers matter for post-crisis economic recovery as social capital has been linked to growth. We leverage the incidence of COVID-19 --a multifaceted global crisis-- using a representative panel US residents, surveyed April October 2020, we explore how a) pandemic-induced health anxiety map prosocial inclinations behavior, b) whether (and types) can foster formation. find that individual exposure consequences pandemic had no effect on capital; but perceived vulnerability reduced trust government respect authority increased preferences redistribution. Yet information about aggregate Covid-19 fosters build-up (e.g., altruism, giving, patience) preferences. In contrast, costs opposite effect; it greatly reduces interpersonal trust. effects also into policy beyond crisis. Our findings are consistent with cultural accounts determinants Americans'