How to Thrive in Times of Threat and Uncertainty

ABSTRACT President Donald Trump's Executive Orders in January 2025, subsequent grant terminations, and attacks on science elicited widespread concern and uncertainty regarding the future of science and the viability of research labs, institutions, and careers. We suggest the Executive Orders and anti‐science proposals not only created an existential threat to science but threatened people's fundamental psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Drawing upon social psychological theory and research, we offer suggestions for how people can cope with threats at the individual, relational, and group level. At the individual level, scholars can expand their research programs, reappraise stressors as challenges, cultivate resilience, and find opportunities for growth in the face of difficulty. At the relational level, researchers can adopt a communal orientation, seek social support, collaborate with others in their communities both in and outside academia, and strengthen social connectedness. At the group level, scholars can engage in coalition‐building and collective action to show allyship and solidarity with marginalized communities. Throughout the paper, we discuss how scientists can find meaning and purpose in times of threat and work together to redefine and reshape culture to mutually benefit science and society at large.