This study aimed to investigate the multiple mediating effects of perceived social support and anxiety between collective self-esteem and perceived stress during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. From February 18 to 25, 2020, 1921 participants aged 18–68 were recruited to complete the questionnaire online. The results showed that collective self-esteem reduced the perceived stress by increasing perceived social support and decreasing anxiety, and their chain mediation path. Our findings identified the important factors in reducing perceived stress and their relationship, which can be used to develop interventions to improve the mental health of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous studies have shown that individuals with a history of childhood emotional neglect show impaired empathy. However, accurately identifying emotions in others is an essential aspect of empathic functioning. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of childhood emotional neglect on empathic accuracy. A total of 92 participants were recruited from a local university. Forty‐six participants were randomly assigned to the social exclusion context (SE), and the other 46 were assigned to the social inclusion context (SI). The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was used to measure childhood emotional neglect. Participants observed real interpersonal communications in which their in‐group members were either socially included or excluded and evaluated the extent of the emotion they felt for their in‐group members. Results found participants empathized with a high level of positive emotion in the SI context (t = 8.13, p < .001) and negative emotion in the SE context (t = 10.76, p < .001) in general. Moreover, childhood emotional neglect decreased the empathic accuracy in both contexts (SI context: β = −0.42, SE = 0.04, p = .004; SE context: β = −0.38, SE = 0.04, p = .009). These results contribute to the current understanding of social functioning of childhood emotional neglect in specific contexts.