Abstract
This study examines how the social climate was associated with the psychological response during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a structural equation model linking the economic crisis to the social climate (pandemic fear, social and psychological distress, civil protection, and population’s response) and to the psychological response (perspectives of life and reconsidering values), we tested their multivariate relationships in a Greek academic community sample. At the first level of the model, the economic crisis was significantly associated with the social climate: pandemic fear, social/psychological distress, and civil protection. At the second level, social/psychological distress was associated with the pandemic fear and civil protection, whereas the pandemic fear was associated with the population’s response to governmental measures. At the third level, civil protection was directly associated with the psychological response resilience variables: perspectives of life and reconsidering values. The model explained a significant amount of the variance in the population’s response (62%), reconsidering values (42%), and perspectives of life (32%). Moreover, women presented higher levels of social/psychological distress, pandemic fear, and perspectives of life. Finally, younger people were more affected by the social/psychological distress and pandemic fear, whereas older people presented higher levels in the population’s response to governmental measures.
Highlights
The novel health crisis regarding the COVID-19 pandemic created an emergency for all countries, causing an enormous impact on every aspect of social and economic life
In the present study with an academic community sample, the response of people to the COVID-19 crisis during the first wave of the pandemic seemed to reflect to a great extent the official narrative of the Civil Protection of the Ministry of Citizen Protection
It is clearly presented in our results that the official narrative accomplished its purpose and created a social climate in favor of the governmental policies at that time
Summary
The novel health crisis regarding the COVID-19 pandemic created an emergency for all countries, causing an enormous impact on every aspect of social and economic life. The long-lasting strict measures throughout 2020–2021 that were imposed on the population of most countries to mitigate the virus transmission including lockdown, confinement, quarantine, and social distancing brought unprecedented changes in individuals’ lives and livelihoods leading to social and psychological distress [1]. Everett et al [2] reported that communicating advice using a deontological appeal to invoke a sense of civic duty had some effect on peoples’ behavior that enhanced a delay in the transmission of the virus. Other researchers reported that inducing empathy for vulnerable members within a community encouraged the reduction of physical and social interactions [3], while appealing to altruistic motivations to comply with social distancing instructions proved to be effective to persuade the population to follow these practices [4]
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