Abstract:
Social value orientations (SVOs) of a society determine peoples’ behaviour and are critical
for young democracies in crises. This paper draws on the Maldives Values in Crisis
survey, conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. SVOs assessed using
the Schwartz Personal Values Questionnaire shows that Maldivian society weigh slightly
towards prosocial. Urban-rural, age, and gender determine the SVOs on the dimension
of Openness to change versus Conservation while age and gender determine the SVOs
on Self-enhancement versus Self-transcendence dimension. Confidence in the public
institutions were moderate and not associated with the SVOs. The moderate level of SVOs
and confidence in institutions reflects the democratic landscape of the country. Although
prosocial SVOs are favourable for implementing containment measures of the pandemic,
without a strong value orientation towards conservation and self-transcendence, and
confidence in the institutions, the country faces the risk of non-compliance to measures
and escalation of the crisis.
