2021
Landmann, Helen; Rohmann, Anette
In: Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 2021.
Abstract | Links | Tags: connectednessCovid-19, contact between groups, Corona, COVID‐19; experience sampling; sense of community; sense of social identity; work‐life balance, Emotion, stress, well-being
@article{Landmann2021b,
title = {Group-specific Contact and Sense of Connectedness During the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Associations with Psychological Well-being, Perceived Stress, and Work-Life Balance},
author = {Helen Landmann and Anette Rohmann},
doi = {10.1002/casp.2564 },
year = {2021},
date = {2021-07-09},
urldate = {2021-07-09},
journal = {Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology},
abstract = {Theories of social cure, sense of community, and social identity suggest that feelings of connectedness affect how we have coped with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although people can feel connected to a variety of different groups, such as their family, friends, co-workers, neighbours, nation, or all humanity, previous research has focused on connectedness to only a subset of these groups. To examine the relative importance of connectedness to and contact with specific groups for well-being, stress, and work-life balance during the pandemic, we conducted a longitudinal experience sampling study (N = 578) during the first 8 weeks of the Spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. Feeling connected to family members most strongly predicted psychological well-being (positively) and perceived stress (negatively) during the lockdown, followed by a sense of connectedness with friends and neighbours. Sense of connectedness to other groups did not predict well-being, stress, or work-life balance when controlling for the respective other groups. Hence, it not only matters whether or not a person feels connected to a group but also to which specific group he or she feels connected.},
keywords = {connectednessCovid-19, contact between groups, Corona, COVID‐19; experience sampling; sense of community; sense of social identity; work‐life balance, Emotion, stress, well-being},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Theories of social cure, sense of community, and social identity suggest that feelings of connectedness affect how we have coped with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although people can feel connected to a variety of different groups, such as their family, friends, co-workers, neighbours, nation, or all humanity, previous research has focused on connectedness to only a subset of these groups. To examine the relative importance of connectedness to and contact with specific groups for well-being, stress, and work-life balance during the pandemic, we conducted a longitudinal experience sampling study (N = 578) during the first 8 weeks of the Spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. Feeling connected to family members most strongly predicted psychological well-being (positively) and perceived stress (negatively) during the lockdown, followed by a sense of connectedness with friends and neighbours. Sense of connectedness to other groups did not predict well-being, stress, or work-life balance when controlling for the respective other groups. Hence, it not only matters whether or not a person feels connected to a group but also to which specific group he or she feels connected.