COVID-19 Pandemic Has Negatively Influenced Subjective Well-Being

Hannes Zacher. Photo: Swen Reichhold; Leipzig University, SUK - In addition to the medical and economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected many people's subjective well-being. This is the result of a long-term study by psychologists from Leipzig University and Saint Louis University with 979 people from all over Germany. The study examined changes in subjective well-being between December 2019 and May 2020. This study, led by organizational psychologists Hannes Zacher and Cort W. Rudolph, found that between March and May 2020 - in the early stage of the pandemic - average life satisfaction and the experience of positive feelings decreased significantly, on average around 0.2 points each on a seven-point scale. Surprisingly, there was also a slight decrease in the experience of negative feelings such as anger and fear during this phase. The researchers have just published the results of their study in the renowned scientific journal -American Psychologist-.