Abstract
Friendships provide social support and mental health benefits, yet the COVID-19 pandemic has limited interactions with friends. In August 2020, we asked participants (N = 634) about their friendships during the pandemic as part of a larger study. We found that younger people and people with higher subjective SES reported more negative effects on their friendships, including feeling more isolated and lonelier. We also found that stress, isolation, and guilt were associated with greater COVID-related social risk-taking, such as making and visiting new friends in person. Our results suggest the pandemic is affecting friendships differently across demographic groups and these negative effects might motivate social risk-taking.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 111246 |
Journal | Personality and Individual Differences |
Volume | 185 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2022 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Cooperation
- Friendship
- Risk management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology