Pillar 2
Latent psycho-socio-behavioral effects
Need
Pandemics can have dramatic impact on society, affecting public health and economic behavior. Many emotions can play an important role in this connection. Frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, and regret, for example, may plausibly be felt in a pandemic, and could influence not only how people react to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as regards social distancing, self-quarantining, or mask wearing, but also how they invest, vote, protest, attack, or look to the welfare of others. Kindness, compassion and reciprocity may also be felt and expressed. While the field of economics has many formal models of society, these models pay little attention to how emotions factor in. It is therefore important to develop relevant theoretical tools for social scientists to apply to behavior in pandemics.
Proposed Solution
Drawing competence in psychological game theory scholarship, CGAPS researchers are addressing topics regarding pandemics, emotions, and social upheaval.
Statement of Work
Using the methods of behavioral economic theory, CGAPS researchers are formulating a precise mathematical model structure that allows societal issues to be formally addressed. Two specific ideas to be explored include: First, the two related emotions of frustration and anger—psychologists suggest that people get frustrated when they unexpectedly get less of something they care for (like health, money, or safety) than they previously expected, and that frustrated people tend to get angry with others whom they blame. Perceived leadership failures may also contribute to frustration and anger. The second idea is the emotional response of reciprocity as an entire society experiences difficulty, and people respond by trying to mitigate the suffering of others. A pandemic may be a trigger of various frustrations, but the result, as blame is apportioned, may affect other and perhaps seemingly unrelated arenas, such as political landscapes or international trading patterns. This research systematically explores these emotional connections using psychological game theory to ultimately develop preventative and mitigation strategies to modulate emotional impact of pandemics.
