Trust in purpose, or trust and purpose?: Institutional trust influences the association between sense of purpose and COVID-19 vaccination.

OBJECTIVE: Having a sense of purpose is associated with a wide variety of positive health outcomes, largely because purposeful individuals appear to take better care of themselves physically. However, work is limited regarding the role of purpose during health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: The current cross-sectional study investigated whether having a sense of purpose was associated COVID-19 vaccination rates and willingness, among a Swiss adult sample (n = 2328, Mean = 52.33 years), after accounting for participants' trust in different institutions. RESULTS: Results found that adults with higher levels of institutional trust were more likely to be vaccinated (rs range from 0.06 to 0.13) or were willing to do so (rs range from 0.22 to 0.39). Sense of purpose was associated modestly with greater vaccination status (r = 0.06). However, sense of purpose moderated several associations between trust and vaccination outcomes. Namely, sense of purpose was associated with greater likelihood for vaccination when individuals reported greater trust in university research centers and political institutions. CONCLUSION: Findings are discussed with respect to how they shape our understanding of purpose-health associations.

The far reach of personality traits in relationship functioning and COVID-19: Comment on Pietromonaco and Overall (2020).

Pietromonaco and Overall (2020) made an important contribution to the relationship literature when adapting Karney and Bradbury (1995) vulnerability-stress-adaptation model to include the COVID-19 pandemic. While the authors discussed ways in which enduring individual vulnerabilities may play a role in harming romantic relationships during the pandemic, only considering individual differences that may have negative implications for relationship functioning could lead to a limited perspective. The current comment discusses how conscientiousness and agreeableness may promote better relationship functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A prospective study of college student depressive symptoms, sense of purpose, and response to a COVID-19 campus shutdown.

Individual differences can shape the way major life events are experienced. In this study, we explored the unique and interactive effects of depressive symptoms and sense of purpose on downstream appraisals of a COVID-19 college campus shutdown. Data were from a sample of U.S. college students (n = 152) surveyed prior to widespread COVID-19 transmission (Time 1; early fall 2019), and again just after their university closed as a protective measure (Time 2; mid-spring 2020). Depressive symptoms were positively associated, whereas sense of purpose was negatively associated, with cross-sectional reports of social status change due to shutdown. Depressive symptoms at Time 1 positively predicted perceived external control of the situation at Time 2, and sense of purpose at Time 1 positively predicted changes to worldview at Time 2. Purpose and depressive symptoms evidenced high rank-order stability from Time 1 to Time 2. This study represents a rare documentation of college students' feelings and experiences before, and during, a historical moment. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Sense of purpose in life predicts greater willingness for COVID-19 vaccination.

RATIONALE: Despite the clear public health significance of herd immunity to COVID-19, a host of individual differences influence willingness to get vaccinated. One factor likely to motivate individuals is the extent they have a sense of purpose in life, based on the health correlates of purpose and purposeful individuals' desire to return to their pre-pandemic environments. OBJECTIVE: The current study examined sense of purpose as a predictor of COVID-19 vaccination willingness in the United States immediately following the initial approval of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in 2020. METHODS: A nationwide sample of U. S. adults (N = 2009) completed a poll including information on their sense of purpose in life, demographic factors, and depressive symptoms, immediately following the initial approval of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in 2020. In addition, they reported on how willing they would be to get the vaccine, assuming that the costs would be covered, as well as their motivations to get the vaccine. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses found that sense of purpose predicted greater willingness to get vaccinated, even when accounting for demographic factors, political affiliation, and psychological wellbeing. Adults higher on sense of purpose reported greater importance of getting the vaccine for personal health, the health of others, and to return to regular activities. Exploratory analyses also suggest that purpose may provide a stronger impetus to vaccinate among those in age groups associated with lower risk for severe COVID-19 complications. CONCLUSIONS: Although cross-sectional in nature, the current findings suggest sense of purpose in life may be an important factor in encouraging vaccination. Implications are discussed regarding how purposeful messaging may yield greater vaccination rates among individuals who otherwise may be less motivated due to health concerns.

Purposefulness and daily life in a pandemic: Predicting daily affect and physical symptoms during the first weeks of the COVID-19 response.

OBJECTIVE: Sense of purpose has been associated with greater health and well-being, even in daily contexts. However, it is unclear whether effects would hold in daily life during COVID-19, when people may have difficulty seeing a path towards their life goals. DESIGN: The current study investigated whether purposefulness predicted daily positive affect, negative affect, and physical symptoms. Participants (n = 831) reported on these variables during the first weeks of the COVID-19 response in North America. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed daily surveys asking them for daily positive events, stressors, positive affect, negative affect, physical symptoms, and purposefulness. RESULTS: Purposefulness at between- and within-person levels predicted less negative affect and physical symptoms, but more positive affect at the daily level. Between-person purposefulness interacted with positive events when predicting negative and positive affect, suggesting that purposeful people may be less reactive to positive events. However, between-person purposefulness also interacted with daily stressors, insofar that stressors predicted greater declines in positive affect for purposeful people. CONCLUSION: Being a purposeful person holds positive implications for daily health and well-being, even during the pandemic context. However, purposefulness may hold some consequences unique to the COVID-19 context, which merit attention in future research.

Video chatting and appearance satisfaction during COVID-19: Appearance comparisons and self-objectification as moderators.

OBJECTIVE: As video chatting has emerged as a leading form of communication for work, education, and socialization during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to investigate the association between video chatting and appearance satisfaction. METHOD: Participants included women from the United States (n = 438; age: M = 31.3, SD = 12.71) who completed measures examining their use of video chatting services, self-objectification, video chatting appearance comparison, and appearance satisfaction. RESULTS: The total time spent on video chatting services was not associated with appearance satisfaction; however, self-objectification moderated the relationship between total hours of video chatting and appearance satisfaction. In addition, participants who engaged in more video chatting appearance comparisons reported lower face and body satisfaction. Furthermore, video chatting appearance comparison was associated with more frequent usage of certain Zoom features, such as the "touch up my appearance" feature, and more time spent looking at oneself on video calls. Finally, those who spent more time engaged with their families over video chatting services reported greater face and body satisfaction. DISCUSSION: The results of the current study demonstrate that time spent video chatting is not predictive of appearance satisfaction, but that self-objectification can exacerbate these associations.

Video chat usage and the Big Five in women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exchange of face-to-face interactions for virtual meetings across many circumstances, research is needed to understand how individuals differentially respond to the increase in video chatting. The current study evaluated how the Big Five traits were associated with video chat usage, such as use of video chat services prior to and following the beginning of the pandemic, contexts in which participants used these services (i.e. social, family, work/school), and whether people engaged in appearance comparison when video chatting. Participants were recruited through Prolific and responded to a cross-sectional online survey (n = 438; M age  = 31.3; 100% women) assessing video chat usage and the Big Five personality traits. Higher extraversion was associated with greater video chat usage prior to and following the beginning of the pandemic, while neuroticism predicted more frequent video chat appearance comparisons when accounting for age and the other Big Five traits. Findings are discussed regarding the implications of these associations, as well as future research opportunities to extend current findings.

Purpose by design or disaster: Preserving a sense of purpose amid environmental uncertainty.

Psychological research suggests a sense of purpose in life is a coveted asset, with well-established linkages to well-being and healthy functioning. But how do individuals preserve this sense when previously reliable settings - and the opportunities they afford - are profoundly disrupted? The current moment provides a formidable test of this question, as widespread transmission of Covid-19 and intense efforts to slow it drastically transform our environment. Here, we consider how the experience of purpose may be impacted by disruptions in three key person-environment interactions: how we engage with work, how we engage in education, and how we manage physical proximity. We hope to motivate critical thinking about how this pandemic, and our collective responses to it, influence the experience of purpose and delineate a research agenda that may inform how individuals' can preserve a sense of engagement and contribution.