Psychological Science in the Wake of COVID-19: Social, Methodological, and Metascientific Considerations
The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively changed the state of psychological science from what research questions psychologists can ask to which methodologies psychologists can use to investigate them. In this article, we offer a perspective on how to optimize new research in the pandemic's wake. Because this pandemic is inherently a social phenomenon-an event that hinges on human-to-human contact-we focus on socially relevant subfields of psychology. We highlight specific psychological phenomena that have likely shifted as a result of the pandemic and discuss theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations of conducting research on these phenomena. After this discussion, we evaluate metascientific issues that have been amplified by the pandemic. We aim to demonstrate how theoretically grounded views on the COVID-19 pandemic can help make psychological science stronger-not weaker-in its wake.
Authors
- Efrén O. Pérez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4952-5089)
- Emily Balcetis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0033-3967)
- C. Daryl Cameron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0801-1831)
- Betül Urgancı (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7449-7804)
- Samantha Joel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5919-7408)
- Hank Rothgerber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1692-0157)
- Jonathan Cook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4907-5719)
- Michael A. Hogg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3781-7220)
- Brock Bastian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4619-3322)
- Matthew J. Hornsey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1275-3977)
- Carolyn Parkinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7128-3480)
- Kurt Gray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5816-2676)
- Anthony L. Burrow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1247-0985)
- Gordon Kraft‐Todd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1220-9269)
- Kaylin Ratner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0875-6905)
- Daniel L. Rosenfeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7392-8668)
- Roxane Cohen Silver (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4013-6792)
- Elliot T. Berkman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7113-5792)
- Sarah E. Gaither (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9833-9218)
- Steven W. Gangestad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8879-4348)
- Damian R. Murray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7267-9102)
- Frank Kachanoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6572-733X)
- Joseph A. Vandello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9318-4002)
- Sarah Volz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9625-2242)
- Steve Loughnan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4737-5120)
- James D. Rounds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2142-1544)
- Tom Pyszczynski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4008-3384)
- Janet K. Swim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3279-1308)
- Elizabeth L. Haines (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8011-3053)
- Cara C. MacInnis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5418-1626)
- Alison Ledgerwood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4535-6276)
- Jennifer K. Bosson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2566-1078)
- Randy T. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3396-858X)
- Kristof Dhont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6060-8083)
- Martie G. Haselton
- Vivian Zayas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9534-3721)
- Shai Davidai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2603-2217)
- A. Janet Tomiyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-5813)
- Traci Mann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4853-3474)
- Mark R. Leary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9373-6081)
- Paul W. Eastwick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8512-8721)
- Gordon Hodson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9699-9098)
- Mark Schaller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1243-4650)
- Christian S. Crandall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9619-7167)
- Felix Thoemmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5689-2659)
- Tiffany N. Brannon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0008-3507)
- Barbara A. Spellman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2823-1292)
- Nina Strohminger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9239-6561)
- Nick Haslam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1913-2340)
- Serena Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7146-3494)
- Thomas Gilovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4452-3626)
- Yuen J. Huo
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- UNC Libraries
- Published
- 2025-05-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17615/fkjp-qz94
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00