Large Gatherings? No, Thank You. Devaluation of Crowded Social Scenes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In most European countries, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) led to the imposition of physical distancing rules, resulting in a drastic and sudden reduction of real-life social interactions. Even people not directly affected by the virus itself were impacted in their physical and/or mental health, as well as in their financial security, by governmental lockdown measures. We investigated whether the combination of these events had changed people's appraisal of social scenes by testing 241 participants recruited mainly in Italy, Austria, and Germany in an online, preregistered study conducted about 50 days after the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. Images depicting individuals alone, in small groups (up to four people), and in large groups (more than seven people) were rated in terms of valence, arousal, and perceived physical distance. Pre-pandemic normative ratings were obtained from a validated database (OASIS). Several self-report measures were also taken, and condensed into four factors through factor analysis. All images were rated as more arousing compared to the pre-pandemic period, and the greater the decrease in real-life physical interactions reported by participants, the higher the ratings of arousal. As expected, only images depicting large gatherings of people were rated less positively during, compared to before, the pandemic. These ratings of valence were, however, moderated by a factor that included participants' number of days in isolation, relationship closeness, and perceived COVID-19 threat. Higher scores on this factor were associated with more positive ratings of images of individuals alone and in small groups, suggesting an increased appreciation of safer social situations, such as intimate and small-group contacts. The same factor was inversely related to the perceived physical distance between individuals in images of small and large groups, suggesting an impact of lockdown measures and contagion-related worries on the representation of interpersonal space. These findings point to rapid and compelling psychological and social consequences of the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of social groups. Further studies should assess the long-term impact of such events as typical everyday life is restored.

Personal space increases during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to real and virtual humans

“…Subjective discomfort ratings increased in concert with the observed increases in personal space size in the current study. These findings are broadly consistent with other evidence for discomfort with the physical proximity of others during the pandemic, such as higher arousal ratings and more negative appraisals of images depicting large social gatherings during the early pandemic ( Massaccesi et al, 2021 ). The time course of this discomfort response (i.e., the length of time it may take to abate after the most threatening aspects of the pandemic, related to the risks for serious illness, death, or loss, have substantially lessened) remains unclear.…”

Infectious touching: Has COVID-19 changed our perceptions of social touch? A neural and behavioral study

“…Some researchers claim that social restrictions may increase the craving for social touch in the same way that fasting increases the craving for food (e.g., Ujitoko et al, 2022, Von Mohr et al, 2021). Others argue that the social restrictions dictated by COVID-19 have changed how humans perceive touch, such that touch is now perceived as a threat signal that may even generalize into reduced positive reactions to observed touch (Massaccesi et al, 2021). Our results support the second argument and are in line with a study by Massaccesi et al (2021), which demonstrated that images depicting crowds and large gatherings were rated as less positive during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period.…”

“…Others argue that the social restrictions dictated by COVID-19 have changed how humans perceive touch, such that touch is now perceived as a threat signal that may even generalize into reduced positive reactions to observed touch (Massaccesi et al, 2021). Our results support the second argument and are in line with a study by Massaccesi et al (2021), which demonstrated that images depicting crowds and large gatherings were rated as less positive during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period. Moreover, participants who reported overall greater physical isolation, stronger feelings of social closeness and higher perceived threat of COVID-19 gave more positive ratings to images depicting individuals alone and in very small groups.…”

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts

“… Unless otherwise specified, the language for each scale was English. Italy Sample 1, Germany, and Austria were drawn from Massaccesi et al (2021) . …”

“…Reactance questions measured the degree to which participants felt angry that their governments were Unless otherwise specified, the language for each scale was English. Italy Sample 1, Germany, and Austria were drawn from Massaccesi et al (2021).…”