The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, proliferates as a contagious psychological threat just like the physical disease itself. Due to the growing death toll and constant coverage this pandemic gets, it is likely to activate mortality awareness, to greater or lesser extents, depending on a variety of situational factors. Using terror management theory and the terror management health model, we outline reactions to the pandemic that consist of proximal defences aimed at reducing perceived vulnerability to (as well as denial of) the threat, and distal defences bound by ideological frameworks from which symbolic meaning can be derived. We provide predictions and recommendations for shifting reactions to this pandemic towards behaviours that decrease, rather than increase, the spread of the virus. We conclude by considering the benefits of shifting towards collective mindsets to more effectively combat COVID-19 and to better prepare for the next inevitable pandemic.COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization Director-General on 11 March 2020. In countries most severely impacted by the disease, case fatality rates are thought to be as high as 15% (e.g., Belgium, 15.2%; 'Mortality Analyses', 2020). COVID-19 poses both a physical threat, due to its contagiousness, and a psychological threat through the fear it provokes (a phenomenon referred to as 'coupled contagion' by Epstein, 2020;Epstein et al., 2008). Terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986), which offers predictions for how people behave in response to fear associated with mortality, helps shed light on this unprecedented existential threat. In this paper, we rely on an extension of TMT, the terror management health model (TMHM; Goldenberg & Arndt, 2008), to investigate and make predictions about this pandemic, and provide recommendations for encouraging behaviour to slow the spread of COVID-19 and other potential pandemic diseases in the future.

Women are objectified through overt sexualization and through a focus on physical appearance, but empirical research has not yet made this distinction. In three studies, we found evidence consistent with the hypothesis that although both forms of objectification strip women of their humanness, there are unique dehumanizing signatures associated with each. When women were objectified by a focus on their sexual features or functions ( sexual objectification), they were perceived as lacking uniquely human attributes (i.e., animalistic dehumanization). Conversely, when women were objectified by an emphasis on their beauty or physical appearance ( appearance-focused objectification), they were perceived as lacking human nature (i.e., mechanistic dehumanization). In Study 3, we also examined an outcome associated with women's risk of harm and found that mechanistic dehumanization, in response to appearance-focused objectification, uniquely promoted the perception that a woman was less capable of feeling pain. Implications for objectification research are discussed.

A growing body of literature examines the potential benefits of a time-based diet strategy referred to as time-restricted eating (TRE). TRE, a type of intermittent fasting, restricts the time of eating to a window of 4–12 h/d but allows ad libitum intake during eating windows. Although TRE diets do not overtly attempt to reduce energy intake, preliminary evidence from small studies suggests that TRE can lead to concomitant reduction in total energy, improvements in metabolic health, and weight loss. Unique features of the TRE diet strategy may facilitate adherence and long-term weight loss maintenance. In this Perspective, we explore the potential multilevel (i.e., biological, behavioral, psychosocial, environmental) facilitators and barriers of TRE for long-term weight loss maintenance in comparison with the more commonly used diet strategy, caloric restriction (CR). Compared with CR, TRE may facilitate weight loss maintenance by counteracting physiological adaptations to weight loss (biological), allowing for usual dietary preferences to be maintained (behavioral), preserving executive functioning (psychosocial), and enabling individuals to withstand situational pressures to overeat (environmental). However, TRE may also pose unique barriers to weight loss maintenance, particularly for individuals with poor baseline diet quality, internal or social pressures to eat outside selected windows (e.g., grazers), and competing demands that interfere with the scheduling of eating. Future studies of TRE in free-living individuals should consider the multiple levels of influence impacting long-term adherence and weight loss maintenance. Ultimately, TRE could be one strategy in a toolkit of tailored diet strategies to support metabolic health and weight loss maintenance.

Objective To assess the extent to which spiritual well‐being moderates the relationship between anxiety and physical well‐being in a diverse, community‐based cohort of newly diagnosed cancer survivors. Methods Data originated from the Measuring Your Health (MY‐Health) study cohort (n = 5506), comprising people assessed within 6‐13 months of cancer diagnosis. Life meaning/peace was assessed using the 8‐item subscale of the Spiritual Well‐Being Scale (FACIT‐Sp‐12). Anxiety was measured with an 11‐item PROMIS Anxiety short form, and physical well‐being was assessed using the 7‐item FACT‐G subscale. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess relationships among variables. Results Life meaning and peace was negatively associated with anxiety, b = −0.56 (P < .001) and positively associated with physical well‐being, b = 0.43 (P = <.001) after adjusting for race, education, income, and age. A significant interaction between life meaning/peace and anxiety emerged (P < .001) indicating that spiritual well‐being moderates the relationship between anxiety and physical well‐being. Specifically, for cancer survivors high in anxiety, physical well‐being was dependent on levels of life meaning/peace, b = 0.19, P < .001. For those low in anxiety, physical well‐being was not associated with levels of life meaning/peace, b = 0.01, P = .541. Differences in cancer clinical factors (cancer stage at diagnosis, cancer type) did not significantly impact results. Conclusions Further research is needed to assess how spiritual well‐being may buffer the negative effect of anxiety on physical well‐being. A clinical focus on spiritual well‐being topics such as peace and life meaning may help cancer survivors of all types as they transition into follow‐up care.