Op/ed: Three Ways the Pandemic Is Changing Who We Are
Coronavirus-related Stress Has Deep Internal Effects, Psychology Researcher Says
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Pandemics can create a stronger sense of the common good, writes Professor Arie Kruglanski. A doctor with San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury Free Clinic prepares to talk with homeless people about the novel coronavirus on Tuesday.
From fundamentally shaking our sense of security to fomenting a shift in our values as we are forced to rely more on community, at just 9 days old, the COVID-19 pandemic is already having a deep effect on American psyches, says psychologist Arie Kruglanski.
In an essay today in The Conversation, the Distinguished University Professor outlines several ways in which the current crisis could bring out the best, or worst, in all of us.
For most Americans, the coronavirus pandemic represents a completely unprecedented circumstance, as novel as it is life-changing. No event in recent history has affected us as profoundly and pervasively.
Not only does it remind us of our physical fragility, it undermines economic security, throws daily routines topsy-turvy, wreaks havoc on plans and isolates us from friends and neighbors.
I am a psychologist who studies human motivation and its impact on what we feel, how we think and what we do. I see that little by little, the stressful external forces this pandemic unleashed are exerting a deep internal effect. Little by little, they are changing who we are and how we relate to people and the world.
The pandemic affects our psyches three ways: It influences how we think, how we relate to others and what we value.
Read the rest in The Conversation.
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