Social psychology and COVID-19: What the field can tell us about behavior in a pandemic

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives of people around the world. Pandemics are powerful situations that can be examined from a social psychological lens. In this special section, four articles present data collected before and during the pandemic, providing a type of quasi-experimental design that helped examine the impact of the pandemic on social behavior. A number of findings emerged: the pandemic potentially increased instances of cyberbullying; the pandemic may have increased reports that Black-White intergroup interactions are more competitive and discriminatory; the pandemic may have reduced negative attitudes and bias in domestic versus international students in the U.S; and the pandemic may have allowed feelings of helplessness to provide a fear-reducing mechanism. We expand upon these findings by discussing how social psychology can help us understand and modify behaviors related to health and social relations during major threats like a pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• Social Psychology
• Pandemic
• Behavior
• Behavioral Change

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian P. Meier

Brian P. Meier is a Professor of Psychology at Gettysburg College and focuses on Social, Personality, and Health Psychology.

Corey L. Cook

Corey L. Cook is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University and focuses on Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Evolutionary Psychology

Kate Faasse

Kate Faasseis a Senior Lecturer of Psychology at the University of New South Wales Sydney and focuses on Health Psychology