{"id":421442,"date":"2020-04-02T16:49:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T20:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=421442"},"modified":"2024-03-29T12:28:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:28:23","slug":"covid-19-hoard-socialize-pandemic-421442","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/covid-19-hoard-socialize-pandemic-421442\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do people hoard and socialize during a pandemic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What looks like selfishness to one person may be expressions of affection for loved ones to others, says a Rochester anthropologist.<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s been quite a public outcry against the mostly young people who have ignored social distance guidelines by gathering in large groups.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s often seen as selfish behavior can also be an indication of personal attachment\u2014even affection\u2014according to Robert Foster<\/a>, a professor of anthropology at the University of Rochester<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Coronavirus update<\/h2>\n

The University\u2019s website<\/a> is a way to find guidance and critical information during a rapidly changing situation.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 symptoms or exposure?<\/h2>\n

Find out what to do <\/a>if you or a close contact have symptoms or think you may have been exposed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cProximity is usually associated with intimacy, and distance with strangeness,\u201d explains Foster. \u201cThe public challenge at the moment is that we must learn to express our care and concern by maintaining distance, which is counter-intuitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s hard to do with people who really are our intimates. But even the same people chastised for gathering in groups may go out of their way to keep their distance from elderly relatives, for example, out of genuine concern. \u201cThe public challenge is to extend that concern to people who are not vulnerable members of their families,\u201d says Foster.<\/p>\n

That challenge also comes into play in everyday activities such as grocery shopping. It\u2019s important not just to maintain distance in stores, but to refrain from hoarding items. Again, hoarding may be viewed as selfish\u2014or not\u2014depending on the context.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the items that people are hoarding are \u2018care\u2019 items\u2014diapers, toilet paper, sanitizer\u2014things that enable and represent the ability to give care to others,\u201d says Foster. \u201cWhat might look like selfish behavior is actually motivated by a strong sense of attachment to\u2014even love for\u2014the household and its members.\u201d<\/p>\n

That confronts us with the same public challenge: how to extend that sense of care or love to people who are not members of one’s household. \u201cIn other words,\u201d says Foster, \u201chow do we get people not to take twenty 24-packs of toilet paper, so that others can buy enough to care for their own households?\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster likens the current situation to the construction of family bomb shelters in the early 1960s, particularly during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He recalls reading about a child who was upset that his own parents, unlike their neighbors, refused to build a bomb shelter. The child interpreted that refusal as a sign that his parents didn’t love him as much as the neighbors loved their own children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key here is to recognize that much of the shopping behavior we have witnessed is not about individual consumption,\u201d says Foster. \u201cInstead, it\u2019s a matter of household provisioning by which people demonstrate their connections to each other through giving and receiving care.\u201d The challenge we face, then, is to enlarge the circle of those with whom we exchange care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cProximity is usually associated with intimacy, and distance with strangeness,\u201d explains Rochester anthropologist Robert Foster. \u201cThe public challenge at the moment is that we must learn to express our care and concern by maintaining distance, which is counter-intuitive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":423032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[37592,21512,16072],"class_list":["post-421442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-covid-19","tag-department-of-anthropology","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy do people hoard and socialize during a pandemic?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hoarding and socializing during the COVID-19 pandemic may seem selfish, but these behaviors are actually 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