Abstract
In this observational study, the psychological ability to recognize the others’ fearful expressions in Italian individuals during the pandemic COVID-19 lockdown was explored through a behavioral task performed online. An implicit version of the traditional facial emotion recognition task, grounded on the attentional and unconscious mechanism of the redundant target effect, was used. The experiment was scripted through the free software OpenSesame (Mathôt et al., 2012) and published on the Internet through the free software Jatos (Lange et al., 2015). The Reaction Time and level of Accuracy in detecting fearful expressions were computed. Overall, the data of 86 Italian individuals were collected. When their performance was scored in terms of Reaction Time, the redundant target effect did not emerge; instead, the expected effect was observed when the level of Accuracy was considered. Overall, the performance registered in this Italian sample in terms of accuracy was in line with previous results reported in Scarpina et al. (2018), in which a long extended version of the same behavioral task was used in a traditional experimental setting. This study might offer some considerations regarding the adoption of online experiments – together with self-report surveys – to assess the psychological and behavioral functioning during social restriction measures.
Highlights
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) generated a rapid and tragic health emergency worldwide
Individual responses to the psychological distress might vary according to the individual psychological characteristics, such as affective temperament and attachment features (Moccia et al, 2020), and according to the subjective understanding of the information from institutions and scientific panels, as well as from media and social media, on the pandemic and its consequences (Cinelli et al, 2020)
Even though confinement and social isolation may strictly limit the interpersonal contact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people were exposed to images and narrations with a higher emotional impact, as well as information about others’ behaviors and emotional reactions through the media and the social media
Summary
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) generated a rapid and tragic health emergency worldwide. In this pandemic, Italy was hit very hard (Gatto et al, 2020; Remuzzi and Remuzzi, 2020), with 213.013 documented cases, with 29.315 deaths as of May 05, 2020.1 With the “I stay at home” (Io resto a casa) decree of 2020, March 9, the Italian government declared the entire national territory as a protected area (i.e., the lockdown): until May 04, 2020, people were requested to move only if necessary; the prohibition of assembly and closure of commercial activities was declared. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing did not necessarily mean emotional distancing
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