COVID-19 Post-Pandemic Adaptation and Resilience: A Cross-Cultural Study of China and Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic altered individuals’ worldviews. This study examined how cultural values shaped the ways students navigated stress and adapted after the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory and cultural psychology frameworks of individualism and collectivism, we hypothesized that university students in two culturally distinct contexts—China and Canada—would demonstrate resilience differently. Chinese students would display collectivistic coping strategies (e.g., social responsibility and perspective-taking), while Canadian students would show resilience through individualistic strategies (e.g., personal reflection and self-efficacy). A total of 814 students completed a mixed-methods survey assessing resilience, cognitive reflection, and post-pandemic adaptations. Quantitative data were analyzed using factor analysis and stepwise regression to identify predictors. Qualitative responses were thematically analyzed for context. Results revealed cultural differences in resilience and adaptation, with social responsibility, healthy habits, and third-person perspective-taking predicting the responses of Chinese students, whereas internal emotional processing and personal moral reflection predicting it for Canadian students. This study enhances cross-cultural understanding of resilience and adaptation after collective trauma.