Ingroup bias could be a significant hindrance in a context where intergroup collaboration is crucial, which makes it essential to investigate ingroup bias during pandemics. This research investigated the influence of individuals' belief in fate control on ingroup bias in helping with COVID-19, and the mediating role of risk perception of COVID-19. To test our hypothesis, we analyzed the data from a community sample (n = 318) collected at the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. We found that fate control was positively associated with ingroup bias in donation to the patients with COVID-19 and the frontline healthcare professionals. Moreover, the mediating role of risk perception of COVID-19 was significant. A higher level of fate control was associated with higher risk perception of COVID-19, which was, in turn, related to stronger ingroup bias in donation across individuals. These findings highlight the substantial role of general worldview in shaping individuals' responses to pandemics.

Self‐esteem affects individuals in a variety of psychological processes substantially and extensively. While an increase in self‐esteem over time was observed in the USA, different patterns of temporal change in self‐esteem were observed in other societies. We analysed the responses (n = 305 229) collected between 1993 and 2016 from 609 articles to examine the patterns of temporal change in self‐esteem in China and its relations with socioecological conditions. Additionally, we explored the patterns in different groups, including secondary school students (158 samples; n = 97 751), college students (427 samples; n = 153 474), and community participants (232 samples; n = 54 004). Some major findings were noted: (i) overall, the level of self‐esteem increased over time. However, we also found a significant curvilinear trend in self‐esteem with a decline followed by a recent increase; (ii) some evidence for the relationship between socioecological factors and self‐esteem was obtained; and (iii) the patterns varied in different cohort groups. Specifically, secondary school students showed a different pattern, in which their self‐esteem level did not show a significant linear trend and was not correlated with the examined socioecological factors. The implications on the theories for the relationship between personality characteristics and socioecological conditions were discussed. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

Previous work suggests that the experiences of online and offline self‐disclosure are heterogeneous among individuals. Yet little work has been done to identify the moderating role of individual characteristics and pre‐existing relationship characteristics on the diverse relational outcomes. The present study using a 7‐day diary design examined whether individuals' self‐esteem level and relational closeness would moderate the relationships between online and offline self‐disclosure to offline friends and two relational outcomes, that is, relationship satisfaction and trust in friendships. The analyses on 686 diary responses from 98 participants revealed that offline self‐disclosure generally predicted greater relationship satisfaction and trust in friendships, whereas the role of online self‐disclosure was not statistically significant. More importantly, self‐esteem moderated the pattern associated with offline self‐disclosure but not that with online self‐disclosure. Specifically, offline self‐disclosure predicted greater benefits to people with lower self‐esteem relative to people with higher self‐esteem. Moreover, pre‐existing relational closeness moderated the relationship between offline self‐disclosure and trust in friendships such that casual friendships benefited more from offline self‐disclosure than close friendships did. The present study highlights the importance of personal characteristics and relationship characteristics in understanding the heterogeneous relational influence of different communication modes.

This research investigated how residential moves with versus without the companionship of significant others would affect people’s motivation to make new friends. Studies 1a and 1b showed that the companionship of significant others predicted fewer new friends among university students who moved within the same country (Study 1a) and to a different country (Study 1b), suggesting that the companionship of significant others was associated with a lower level of motivation to make new friends. In Study 2, the results of an experiment demonstrated that the companionship of a significant other reduced movers’ motivation to make new friends, and this was explained by positive affect but not negative affect. Specifically, the companionship of a significant other, compared with the companionship of an acquaintance or no companionship, led to stronger positive affect, which, in turn, reduced motivation to make new friends. Taken together, these findings call for more nuanced theory on the influence of residential mobility on well‐being and social networks.

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