Psychological Responses Research Articles

Reactions to a Hypothetical Ban of Open-System Electronic Cigarettes Among People Who Currently Use Electronic Cigarettes.

Policies limiting electronic cigarette (ECIG) device and liquid characteristics have been considered to prevent dependence potential and youth product appeal. "Open-system" ECIGs allow people to adjust device and liquid characteristics, which may undermine these policies. This study examined anticipated reactions to a policy prohibiting the sale of open-system ECIG devices in the United States using concept mapping. In 2020, adults who reported ECIG use in the past 30 days (n = 70; 45.1% women; mean age = 33.0, SD = 10.6) recruited from a research registry of individuals from across the United States provided statements into a shared list that completed a prompt: "If open-system vaping devices were no longer sold in the US and only closed-system vaping devices were available, what is a specific reaction or response you would have?" at a study website. Participants rated statements (1-7) on how true the statements were for them. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses were used to identify thematic clusters. Mean ratings of statements were calculated and compared based on the type of ECIG used and current cigarette smoking status. Participants generated 85 unique statements. The analysis identified eight themes that were organized into two broad groups. The first group of five clusters described behavioral responses to the hypothetical policy (Loopholes, Switch to Closed-System ECIGs, Legal Approaches to Use Open-System ECIGs, ECIG Use Cessation, Switch to non-ECIG Products). The second group of three clusters described psychological responses to the hypothetical policy (Closed-System ECIG Cons, Psychological Responses, Policy Outcome Concerns). While a ban on open-system ECIG devices may have positive impacts on public health, policy loopholes, and consumer behaviors may undermine the policy. Efforts to support policy enforcement could increase policy effectiveness. Open-system electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) that allow people who use ECIGs to modify ECIG device and liquid characteristics may limit the effectiveness of policies that establish product standards which attempt to limit nicotine delivery and flavor content in ECIG liquids. This study identified predicted reactions to a hypothetical policy prohibiting the sale of open-system ECIGs in the United States. Results suggest that people who use ECIGs may view a policy prohibiting open-system ECIGs unfavorably, but would be willing to use closed-system ECIGs. However, many ECIG users may attempt to find loopholes in the policy or alternative sources to purchase open-system ECIGs if open-systems were banned. Future research should identify strategies for tobacco regulatory policy enforcement to increase effectiveness.

Psychological and behavioral responses to daily weight gain during behavioral weight loss treatment

Self-weighing is consistently associated with more effective weight control. However, patterns show that participants disengage from their weight control behaviors following weight gain. Women with BMIs in the overweight/obese range (N = 50) enrolled in a long-term behavioral weight loss program completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys immediately after their daily weigh-ins. Nightly EMA surveys and self-monitoring data through Fitbit measured their weight control behavior that day. On days when participants gained weight (vs. lost or maintained), they reported more negative mood, more guilt/shame, and lower confidence in weight control. Motivation following daily weight gain depended on participants’ overall satisfaction with their weight loss so far: more satisfied participants had marginally higher, but less satisfied participants had marginally lower motivation in response to daily weight gain. Greater guilt/shame and lower motivation after the weigh-in predicted less effective weight control behavior that day (e.g., lower likelihood of calorie tracking, fewer minutes of physical activity). Results demonstrate that even small weight gain is distressing and demoralizing for women in BWL programs, which can lead to goal disengagement. These findings have implications for future BWL interventions, including the potential utility of just-in-time adaptive interventions to promote more adaptive responses in the moments after weigh-ins.

Additional findings from the 100,000 Genomes Project: A qualitative study of recipient perspectives

PurposeParticipants in the 100,000 Genomes Project, a clinical/research initiative delivered through the UK National Health Service, were offered screening for “additional findings” (AFs): pathogenic/likely pathogenic secondary findings in genes associated with familial hypercholesterolemia or a cancer predisposition syndrome. Understanding the psychological and behavioral responses to secondary findings can inform the clinical utility of a search and disclose policy. MethodsThirty-two adult AF recipients took part in semi-structured interviews analyzed using deductive and inductive thematic analysis. ResultsFive themes were constructed: cognitive responses to an AF, emotional and psychological responses, personal control, perceived risk of AF-associated disease, and family implications. Many participants had misunderstood or incompletely remembered consent for AFs, and most were surprised or shocked to receive an AF. Although many ultimately appreciated knowing about the risk conferred, some struggled to make sense of their disease risk, which complicated decision making about risk management, particularly for women with a BRCA AF. Recipients sought control through seeking clinical evaluation and information, and informing relatives. Difficulties with conceptualizing risk and lack of AF-associated disease family history meant that some hesitated to inform relatives. ConclusionGenome sequencing programs offering secondary findings require attention to consent processes. Post-disclosure care should aim to promote recipients’ perceived personal control.

Loss-Driven Activism

Abstract I show that hedge funds react to unrealized losses on their passive positions by engaging with the management. The hedge fund managers’ psychological response is consistent with cognitive dissonance: They blame the firms’ management and switch to activism. The loss, which is hedge fund-investment specific, is distinct from economic factors such as the firm’s industry-adjusted performance. Loss-driven activism is more likely to be unfocused on specific issues and results in worse firm performance. This study shows that an overlooked consequence of unrealized losses is to trigger an active engagement with the firm.

The Psychological Impact of Leisure and Rehabilitation Activities in Children and Adolescents With Autism: A Delphi Approach

BACKGROUND. The leisure-rehabilitation programs offered to children and adolescents with autism convey feelings like emotional, social, cognitive, and physical engagement, fun, adventure, and sense of novelty. Each activity however has an intrinsic power to influence the emotional pattern in different ways. AIM. To define how each type of rehabilitation program can be expected to influence the psychological response di children and adolescent affected by autism. METHODS. We applied the Delphi procedure during a workshop with 18 expert therapists (12 females- 6 males), with the aim of achieving consensus regarding the appropriateness of 11 types of leisure-rehabilitation activities in inducing seven types of psychological responses. RESULTS. The activities with the highest potential for each psychological response were indoor climbing for physical engagement, for sense of adventure and for sense of novelty; team sports for social engagement and for fun, dramatherapy for emotional engagement, writing your life story for cognitive engagement. The top five activities with the highest overall impact (mean overall score > 7) were in decreasing order: indoor climbing, team sports, outdoor visits to common life environments, exercising in the swimming pool, and dramatherapy. CONCLUSIONS. We hope that this Delphi exercise will help the carers of individuals with autism to choose and adapt possible leisure activities according to the specific needs of the subject, maximizing the potential benefit of rehabilitation.

Virtual reality-based study assessing the impact of lighting on attention in university classrooms

This study uses immersive virtual reality technology to evaluate the effects of lighting environments on cognitive performance. Interaction effects of the variables illuminance (ILL) (100 lx, 300 lx and 500 lx) and correlated colour temperature (CCT) (3000 K, 4000 K, 6500 K and 10500 K) are analysed through the psychological responses of 192 participants in an attention task. The results reveal significant differences in psychological metrics. The lighting environment that most enhances attention is a combination of 300 lx + 6500 K. This work shows that ILL and CCT have a significant interaction effect, and thus, analysing them in isolation may not provide a complete understanding of their impact. Lighting conditions with combinations of 500 lx + 6500 K, 300 lx + 3000 K, and 100 lx + 65000 K produce comparable results in the attention task. Nevertheless, these different lighting levels could significantly affect the energy efficiency of educational centres. The findings reveal that changes in lighting conditions within virtual environments can significantly impact attention responses. These results highlight the potential benefits of optimising lighting environments to enhance cognitive functions.

Chronic restraint stress induces abnormal behaviors in pain sensitivity and cognitive function in mice: the role of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway

Stress is a series of physical and psychological responses to external and internal environmental stimuli. Growing studies have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of acute restraint stress (ARS) and chronic restraint stress (CRS) on animal behavior. However, the related pathogenesis and therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Hence, the present study aimed to examine whether unfolded protein response (UPR) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)-nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway are associated with ARS- and CRS- induced abnormal behaviors of pain sensitivity and cognitive function. We here used four behavioral tests to evaluate pain sensitivity and cognitive function in ARS and CRS mice. CRS markedly decreased Paw Withdrawal Mechanical Threshold (PWMT) and Tail-flick Latency (TFL) scores, whereas ARS altered TFL but had no effect on PWMT scores. Additionally, CRS, but not ARS, significantly changed behaviors in nest building behavior and MWMT. Intriguingly, the expression of Keap1 and Nrf2 protein were decreased in the spinal cord and hippocampus in CRS mice, but not in ARS mice. Moreover, neither the ARS nor the CRS groups significantly differed from the control group in terms of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). Taken together, this study demonstrated that CRS could induce abnormal pain sensitivity and cognitive function probably via Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in spinal cord and hippocampus. It is therefore likely that effective intervention of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway may contribute to preventing and treating hyperalgesia and cognitive dysfunction in CRS.

Strategies to mitigate moral distress as reported by eldercare professionals

ABSTRACT Eldercare workers experience higher levels of moral distress than other health and social care service workers. Moral distress is a psychological response to a morally challenging event. Very little is known about moral distress in the context of eldercare and about the mechanisms of preventing or mitigating moral distress. This qualitative study was conducted as part of the “Ensuring the availability of staff and the attractiveness of the sector in eldercareservices” project in Finland in 2021. The data were from 39 semi-structured interviews. This qualitative interview data were examined using two-stage content analysis. The key finding of this study, as reported by eldercare professionals, is that strategies to mitigate moral distress can be found at all organizational levels : organizational, workplace and individual. The tools that emerged from the interviews fell into four main categories: 1) organizational support and education 2) peer support 3) improving self-care and competence and 4) defending patients. The main identified categories confirmed the earlier findings but the qualitative, rich research interview data provided new insights into a little-studied topic: mitigating moral distress in eldercare. The main conclusion is that, in order to mitigate moral distress, ethical competence needs to be strengthened at all organizational levels.

The Psychological Impact of Leisure and Rehabilitation Activities in Children and Adolescents With Autism: A Delphi Approach

BACKGROUND. The leisure-rehabilitation programs offered to children and adolescents with autism convey feelings like emotional, social, cognitive, and physical engagement, fun, adventure, and sense of novelty. Each activity however has an intrinsic power to influence the emotional pattern in different ways. AIM. To define how each type of rehabilitation program can be expected to influence the psychological response di children and adolescent affected by autism. METHODS. We applied the Delphi procedure during a workshop with 18 expert therapists (12 females- 6 males), with the aim of achieving consensus regarding the appropriateness of 11 types of leisure-rehabilitation activities in inducing seven types of psychological responses. RESULTS. The activities with the highest potential for each psychological response were: for emotional and cognitive engagement dramatherapy, for social engagement and for fun team sports, for physical engagement and for sense of adventure indoor climbing, for sense of novelty outdoor visits to museums. The top five activities with the highest overall impact (mean overall score > 7) were in decreasing order: indoor climbing, team sports, outdoor visits to common life environments, outdoor visits to parks and gardens, and dramatherapy. CONCLUSIONS. We hope that this Delphi exercise will help the carers of individuals with autism to choose and adapt possible leisure activities according to the specific needs of the subject, maximizing the potential benefit of rehabilitation.

Human emergency behaviour and psychological stress characteristic mining based on large-scale emergencies

AbstractHuman emergency behaviour and psychological stress response in emergencies are important scientific issues in basic emergency management research. The analysis of the dynamic characteristics of large-scale human behaviour based on electronic footprint data provides a new method for quantitative research on this problem. Previous studies usually assumed that human behaviors were randomly distributed in time, but few studies have studied the psychological stress response of human groups under the influence of emergencies and carried out prediction methods through social media data. Based on the data from five emergencies and daily events in the Qzone, this paper explores the statistical characteristics of human communication behaviors such as time, space and social interaction. The research results reveal the psychological evolution of human groups when they encounter public security emergencies by analysing the causes of individual psychological stress responses in the group. We find that the time interval between people’s posting behaviour and interactive comment behaviour in mobile QQ space before and after an emergency can be approximately described by a power-law distribution. The time interval distribution of Posting and reply is an obvious heavy-tailed distribution. These behavioural characteristics are consistent with people’s psychological stress characteristics. Individual psychological stress responses gradually evolve into social-psychological responses with changes in behavioural characteristics. The greater the social-psychological stress response is, the more panic the public will be, which will cause the outbreak of group irrational behaviour. The research results are theoretically helpful in understanding the impact of emergencies on human communication behaviour patterns and reveal the psychological stress process of mass panic in large-scale emergencies.

Exploring the relationship between library reading space height and user perception: A physiological and subjective analysis

As a central functional aspect, the design of library reading spaces should consider users' perceptual experiences to optimize their psychological responses. However, the current literature lacks a rational analysis and definitive guidelines regarding the interior height design of reading rooms. This study focuses on physiological data supplemented by subjective evaluations to explore potential correlations between library reading space height and user perceptions. Specifically, we employed Virtual Reality (VR) to create four experimental scenarios, investigating reading space heights within a laboratory setting while capturing corresponding electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and subjective assessment data. Correlation analysis of EEG signals and height variations across the four scenarios revealed that the exposure sequence influenced participants' physiological experiences, particularly in the frontal lobe. Fitting curves illustrated changes in α and βH as heights varied, influenced by scene disparities. Correlational analysis between physiological and survey data established a connection between psychological perceptions and α waves. Findings indicate that height variations impact both physiological and psychological aspects. For a reading room space of 12.600 m × 22.500 m, maintaining psychological and physiological comfort requires a minimum height of 2.600 m. This research contributes a unique perspective by constructing a framework for investigating library reading spaces, offering novel insights for optimizing their design.

Resilience to stress during pregnancy: Biopsychosocial mechanisms and implications for offspring emotional and behavioral outcomes in toddlerhood.

Exposure to high levels of stress during pregnancy is a known risk factor for a wide range of offspring outcomes, but little is known about the biopsychosocial factors underlying resilience and recovery from stress during pregnancy. The current study investigated associations between emotional and instrumental support during pregnancy and resilience to stress during pregnancy, including perceived resilience (belief in ability to "bounce back" from adversity) and physiological resilience (ability to physiologically recover quickly after an acute stressor). We further tested whether support and resilience during pregnancy predicted offspring internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Participants included 130 pregnant women (ages 26-28 years; 58% Black, 27% White, 15% Multiracial; 28% receiving public assistance) from a population-based longitudinal study. During pregnancy, participants reported on emotional and instrumental support, current life stressors, and perceived resilience to stress. In addition, heart rate variability was recorded continuously before, during, and after a controlled stress test to measure physiological recovery from stressors. When offspring were 2-3 years of age, mothers reported on children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Results from moderated mediation analyses indicated that emotional, but not instrumental, support was associated with perceived resilience during pregnancy, which predicted lower internalizing and externalizing problems in offspring. Emotional support also predicted greater physiological recovery during pregnancy, but only for individuals reporting multiple life stressors. Findings suggest that emotional support may influence psychological and physiological responses to stress during pregnancy, with implications for offspring emotional and behavioral health. Clinical implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Religious Experiences, Expectations of Discrimination, and Distress Among Biracial Christians

Similar to their monoracial counterparts, Black–White biracial individuals experience negative psychological and social responses to discrimination and racial stigma, including experiencing fears of future discrimination (anticipated discrimination). Extending minority stress theory (MST) to the stigma-related experiences of Christians, a unique subgroup of the biracial population, this study assessed responses to future expectations of multiracial discrimination (FEMD; discrimination based upon biracial status) among a community sample of 199 Black–White biracial Christians. We hypothesized that various religious/spiritual experiences might moderate the association between FEMD and distress. Several moderation analyses were conducted evaluating the role of God-centered self-esteem, communion with God, and church support in moderating the association between FEMD and depression, anxiety, and stress. Church support moderated the association between FEMD and depression and stress in an unexpected direction. As participants’ FEMD increased, they reported more depression and stress symptoms, with more depressive and stress symptoms endorsed at medium and high levels of church support but not at low levels of church support. Furthermore, despite the lack of a moderating role in the association between FEMD and distress variables, communion with God demonstrated a negative association (a small effect) with depression, and God-centered self-esteem showed a negative association with depression (a medium effect) and anxiety (a small effect). Clinical implications and directions for future research are presented.

Profiles of posttraumatic stress disorder and negative world assumptions in treatment-seeking refugees

ABSTRACT Background: Refugees often suffer from trauma-related psychopathology, specifically posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Negative world assumptions are strongly correlated with the development, course, and severity of PTSD. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether there are distinct profiles of PTSD and negative world assumptions (NWA) and examine whether trauma load, torture, and gender differentially predict such symptom profiles. Method: In a sample of 225 treatment-seeking refugees who had resettled in the Netherlands, latent profile analysis was used to identify subgroups of patients sharing the same profile of PTSD and NWA symptoms. Predictors of profile membership were analyzed via multinomial logistic regression. Results: A three-profile solution yielded the best model fit: a low PTSD/low NWA profile (23.6%), a high PTSD/high NWA profile (41.8%), and a high PTSD/low NWA profile (34.7%). Participants who reported a higher trauma load, were more likely to be part of the high PTSD/high NWA profile or the high PTSD/low NWA profile in comparison to low PTSD/low NWA profile. Participants who reported having experienced torture were more likely to be part of the high PTSD/high NWA profile in comparison to low PTSD/low NWA profile. Gender did not differentiate between the profiles. Conclusions: This study reveals that among treatment-seeking refugees resettled in the Netherlands, there are distinct profiles of PTSD and NWA. These profiles indicate that PTSD and NWA are not uniformly experienced among refugees, emphasizing the diversity in their psychological responses to trauma. Among individuals experiencing severe PTSD symptoms, a subgroup was identified of individuals who additionally exhibited negative assumptions about themselves, others, and the world. Recognizing this heterogeneity is crucial in both research and clinical practice, particularly in the context of refugee mental health. Directions for future research are discussed.

Digital art exhibitions and psychological well-being in Chinese Generation Z: An analysis based on the S-O-R framework

In the post-pandemic era, there has been a heightened global focus on the mental health challenges facing individuals, with a particular emphasis on innovative and effective therapeutic approaches. Despite the extensive body of research within the realm of art therapy addressing individual psychological healing, the potential of digital mediums in this field has been largely overlooked. This gap is especially pronounced in studies targeting the unique demographic of Generation Z, known as ‘digital natives.’ This study aims to investigate the role of engagement in online digital exhibitions as a potential restorative intervention for enhancing the mental well-being of Generation Z users. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and the theory of restorative environments, this research examines the psychological responses of Generation Z participants to online digital art exhibitions, particularly from the perspective of website aesthetics. The impact of these responses on users’ place attachment and loyalty behaviors is also explored. Utilizing a structural equation modeling approach, an online digital art exhibition was deployed on the ZEPETO app, a platform popular among Chinese Generation Z users. Participants were subsequently invited to partake in an online survey post-exhibition, yielding a dataset of 332 valid responses. The findings reveal that: (1) the four design elements of website aesthetics (coherence, novelty, interactivity, immersion) significantly influence the perceived restoration among Generation Z users, with immersion being the most influential factor; (2) perceived restoration and place attachment are crucial predictors of loyalty behavior; (3) perceived restoration has a positive impact on the place attachment of Generation Z users towards online digital art exhibitions. This study demonstrates that online digital art exhibitions can facilitate an emotional healing journey for Generation Z, contributing to the alleviation of psychological stress and the promotion of psychological well-being. Moreover, digital technology exhibitions have the potential to transcend human creativity and imagination, offering a unique and promising pathway for future research and practices in design related to emotional healing.

Психологические реакции детей на ситуацию хирургического лечения: обзор исследований

<p>The article presents a review of studies on the psychological reactions of children to a situation of surgical treatment. Surgical treatment is considered as a situation with a high potential for stress, which is due to the variety and high intensity of stress effects which are experienced by the child as new and uncontrolled. Negative psychological responses are observed in children both at the preoperative and postoperative stages. At the preoperative stage, preoperative anxiety is highly prevalent. The risk of its development depends on a complex of factors related to the child themself, his/her environment, as well as the disease, hospital environment, the treatment and the circumstances of hospitalization. Preoperative anxiety is a risk factor for more severe pain symptoms, emotional and behavioral changes in the postoperative period. The article discusses the modern methods for the prevention and correction of preoperative anxiety and postoperative emotional and behavioral changes in children: the presence of parents during the induction of anesthesia, providing information using modern technologies and principles of social learning, distraction and other cognitive and behavioral methods for the correction of the mental state, multimodal methods for harmonizing the emotional state and behavior of children (art therapy, play therapy, clown therapy). The authors come to the conclusion that further research is needed in order to develop algorithms for the psychological support of children in a situation of surgical treatment, taking into account their age, clinical characteristics, the psychological features of the child and his/her parents.</p>

Racial Stress, Racial Trauma, and Evidence-Based Strategies for Coping and Empowerment.

Racial stress and racial trauma refer to psychological, physiological, and behavioral responses to race-based threats and discriminatory experiences. This article reviews the evidence base regarding techniques for coping with racial stress and trauma. These techniques include self-care, self-compassion, social support, mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, cognitive defusion, identity-affirming practices and development of racial/ethnic identity, expressive writing, social action and activism, and psychedelics. These strategies have shown the potential to mitigate psychological symptoms and foster a sense of empowerment among individuals affected by racial stress and trauma. While the ultimate goal should undoubtedly be to address the root cause of racism, it is imperative to acknowledge that until then, implementing these strategies can effectively provide much-needed support for individuals affected by racism.

Relevance Feedback with Brain Signals

The Relevance Feedback (RF) process relies on accurate and real-time relevance estimation of feedback documents to improve retrieval performance. Since collecting explicit relevance annotations imposes an extra burden on the user, extensive studies have explored using pseudo-relevance signals and implicit feedback signals as substitutes. However, such signals are indirect indicators of relevance and suffer from complex search scenarios where user interactions are absent or biased. Recently, the advances in portable and high-precision brain-computer interface (BCI) devices have shown the possibility to monitor user’s brain activities during search process. Brain signals can directly reflect user’s psychological responses to search results and thus it can act as additional and unbiased RF signals. To explore the effectiveness of brain signals in the context of RF, we propose a novel RF framework that combines BCI-based RF with pseudo-relevance signals and implicit signals to improve the performance of document re-ranking. The experimental results on the user study dataset show that incorporating brain signals leads to significant performance improvement in our RF framework. Besides, we observe that brain signals perform particularly well in several hard search scenarios, especially when implicit signals as feedback are missing or noisy. This reveals when and how to exploit brain signals in the context of RF.

The role of emotion and social connection during the COVID-19 pandemic phase transitions: a cross-cultural comparison of China and the United States

Leveraging substantial data from China’s Weibo and datasets from Reddit and X (previously Twitter) in the United States, this research explores the disparities and complex dynamics of emotions and social connections among social media users in China and the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that the expression of three negative emotions (anxiety, sadness, and anger) and positive emotions exhibited distinctive dynamics under the impact of the pandemic, with China individuals expressing more anxiety but less sadness and anger than those in the US. Moreover, Chinese social media experienced a surge in positive emotional expressions under lockdown, whereas the US witnessed a conspicuous decline in positive emotions. Also, the expression of three types of social connections - “family”, “collective”, and “country”-exhibited significant differences under the impact of the pandemic, with Chinese individuals establishing deeper connections with their country and American individuals leaning towards familial connections. Further analysis on the moderating effects of social connections substantiated that the “country” connection in China and the “family” connection in the US mitigated the negative emotions affected by the pandemic. These findings facilitate a deeper understanding of how cultural contexts shape social and psychological responses in crises. Based on topic analysis and forward-looking orientation analysis, this study dissects the aforementioned findings through the dichotomy of collectivist and individualist cultures, providing new insights for social psychological support and emotional guidance in the development of public health communication strategies in the future.

COVID-19 Increased Mortality Salience, Collectivism, and Subsistence Activities: A Theory-Driven Analysis of Online Adaptation in the United States, Indonesia, Mexico, and Japan

How does a life-threatening pandemic affect a culture? The Theory of Social Change, Cultural Evolution, and Human Development predicts that danger, as indicated by rising death rates and narrowing social worlds, shifts human psychology and behavior toward that found in small-scale, collectivistic, and rural subsistence ecologies. In particular, mortality salience, collectivism, and engagement in subsistence activities should increase as death rates rise and the social world retracts. Studies on the psychological response to the pandemic in the United States confirmed these predicted increases. The present study sought to generalize these previous findings by comparing the frequency of conceptually relevant linguistic terms used in Google searches and Twitter posts in the United States, Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico for 30 days before the coronavirus pandemic began in each country with frequencies of the same terms for 30 days after. Generally, we found that mortality salience increased to the extent that countries experienced excess COVID mortality; collectivism increased to the extent that countries experienced excess COVID mortality and increased mortality salience; and subsistence activities increased to the extent that countries experienced excess COVID mortality and/or stay-at-home-policies. Almost all these increases went beyond the general increase in internet use, which was a control variable in all analyses. These findings support a growing body of research documenting a human response to ecological danger.