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New National Academies Guidance on Encouraging Behavior Change
To hasten public adherence with COVID-19 mitigation and prevention habits, the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN)—a collaboration between the National Science Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)—has developed a set of strategies for leaders.
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New Content From Perspectives on Psychological Science
A sample of articles on construct validity, data-collection decisions, meditation and neurocognitive mechanisms, oxytocin research, the study of new technologies, and the psychosocial factors that might affect susceptibility to COVID-19.
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The Misinformation Age Has Exacerbated—And Been Exacerbated By—the Coronavirus Pandemic
If you’re looking for solid information on COVID-19, the Internet is not always your best bet—equal parts encyclopedia and junkyard, solid science on the one hand and rubbish, rumors and fabulism on the other. Distinguishing between the two is not always easy, and with so much of the time we spend online devoted either to sharing links or reading ones that have been shared with us, not only does the junk get believed, it also gets widely disseminated, creating a ripple effect of falsehoods that can misinform people and even endanger lives.
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What We’ll Lose if the Pandemic Puts an End To the Sharing of Food
My 2-year-old has a hard time sharing. Open a bag of Goldfish crackers, and good luck getting one or two for yourself. Lucky for him, now that he spends most of his time within the confines of our home, he no longer has to do nearly as much sharing as before. When my son's Bay Area daycare shut down in mid-March, so did many of the opportunities for him to learn—and grapple with—the art and discipline of accepting that we don’t get everything to ourselves all the time. It’s an important lesson for toddlers.
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Should You Say Yes to That Favor? Well …
Until February of this year, doing a friend a favor was mostly a matter of logistics, timing and an honest conversation about whether, well, this friend was worth the effort. But now, as the coronavirus continues to surge, every action, ask and decision carries more weight than ever. However, if you still feel the desire to take one for the team and assist a pal in need, you’re not alone. While doing favors isn’t necessarily an innate human behavior, we’re socially conditioned to want to help out when asked. “We have this fundamental need to belong, and this fundamental need to feel like good people,” said Vanessa Bohns, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell.
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Loneliness Hasn’t Increased Despite Pandemic, Research Finds. What Helped?
When the coronavirus barreled into the U.S. this year, the predominant public health advice for avoiding infection focused on physical isolation: No parties, concerts or sports events. No congregating inside bars or restaurants. No on-site family reunions. No play dates for kids. Just keep away from other people. Meanwhile, although social scientists supported that medical advice, they feared the required physical distancing would spark another epidemic — one of loneliness, which was already at a high level in the U.S. "You might expect this would make things much worse," says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a neuroscientist and social psychologist at Brigham Young University.
