Abstract
This longitudinal study investigated the capability of various positive psychological resources to directly or indirectly protect specific well-being outcomes and moderate the effects on well-being of health and economic threats in a lockdown situation during the 2020 health crisis in France. At the beginning of lockdown (wave 1), participants (N = 470) completed self-assessment questionnaires to document their initial level of well-being and state of nine different well-established psychological resources, measured as traits: optimism, hope, self-efficacy, gratitude toward the world, self-transcendence, wisdom, gratitude of being, peaceful disengagement, and acceptance. Three weeks later, a weekly follow-up was started to record changes in well-being and reported threats for a duration of 5 weeks (waves 2–6). Results show that psychological resources efficiently protected well-being in a variety of ways: they buffered the adverse effects of reported threats to health and wealth, increased the well-being averages, and reduced the decline in well-being over time. More specifically, emotional well-being was positively predicted by hope, gratitude of being, and, to a lesser level, by acceptance; psychological well-being by self-efficacy, personal wisdom, and gratitude of being; social well-being only by gratitude toward the world; and inner well-being by optimism, gratitude of being, and acceptance. The study emphasizes the importance of cultivating psychological resources in ordinary times to protect individuals' well-being when difficult and extraordinary circumstances occur. It also offers clues to the kind of resources one may want to develop.
Highlights
In January 2020, the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the cause of the COVID-19 disease that plagued the city of Wuhan, China (Zhou et al, 2020)
The lockdown situation experienced by half of the world population in the spring of 2020 was unprecedented
Leaving aside the inevitable grief induced in the victims’ relatives, or in severely affected patients who eventually recovered, psychological damage may extend to all people forced to stay home—sometimes in highly uncomfortable situations— or to economically disadvantaged persons
Summary
In January 2020, the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the cause of the COVID-19 disease that plagued the city of Wuhan, China (Zhou et al, 2020). Many countries implemented “lockdown” as a response, leading half of the world’s population (more than 3.9 billion people) to be Protective Psychological Resources During Lockdown instructed to stay home (Sandfor, 2020). The economic and political consequences of the situation were huge. Mortality salience reached unusual levels in most modern countries. This very complex situation considerably affected the well-being of populations (e.g., Brodeur et al, 2020; Chen et al, 2020; Greyling et al, 2020)
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