Examining the Impact of a Culture-Centric Narrative on COVID-19 Vaccines and Mental Wellness Among Latinos in the Midwest

Abstract

The model of culture-centric narratives in health promotion (CNHP) is argued to be most effective for homogenous cultural communities. This study a) compares the impact of narratives designed to speak to two different cultures (i.e. Latindad v. white, Anglo-Saxon culture in the Midwest), and b) examines the potential influence of acculturation on those narrative effects. English-proficient, Latino-identifying adult participants living in the Midwest of the United States (n = 189) were randomly assigned to one of the two narratives about a family’s struggles during COVID-19. Participants exposed to the culture-centric narrative found the characters more culturally similar to themselves than those exposed to the white, Anglo-Saxon narrative (t (212) = 3.22, Mean Diff. =.45, SE =.14, p =.001). Some evidence was also found to suggest that acculturation may influence character engagement (F (5, 178) = 2.81, R2 =.10, p =.003). Implications based on these findings may expand the potential application of the CNHP model, as we discuss the heterogeneity of cultural groups and the impact of demographic representation versus the presentation of cultural values like familismo.