CaltechAUTHORS
Published May 2020 | Version Submitted
Journal Article Open

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon New York University
  • 2. ROR icon University of Chicago
  • 3. ROR icon Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie
  • 4. ROR icon Middlesex University
  • 5. ROR icon University of Kent
  • 6. ROR icon Nicolaus Copernicus University
  • 7. ROR icon Harvard University
  • 8. ROR icon Yale University
  • 9. ROR icon Stanford University
  • 10. ROR icon Northwestern University
  • 11. ROR icon University of Sussex
  • 12. ROR icon Utrecht University
  • 13. ROR icon University of California, San Diego
  • 14. ROR icon University of Maryland, College Park
  • 15. ROR icon Peking University
  • 16. ROR icon University of Queensland
  • 17. ROR icon University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
  • 18. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 19. ROR icon Lehigh University
  • 20. ROR icon University of Regina
  • 21. ROR icon University of Oregon
  • 22. ROR icon The Ohio State University
  • 23. ROR icon Massachusetts General Hospital
  • 24. ROR icon University of St Andrews
  • 25. ROR icon University of Cambridge
  • 26. ROR icon University of British Columbia
  • 27. ROR icon University of Illinois at Chicago
  • 28. ROR icon University of California, Berkeley
  • 29. ROR icon Carleton University
  • 30. ROR icon VU Amsterdam
  • 31. ROR icon Cornell University

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behaviour with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.

Additional Information

© 2020 Springer Nature Limited. Received 24 March 2020; Accepted 09 April 2020; Published 30 April 2020. Author Contributions: The corresponding authors (J.V.B and R.W.) came up with the idea for the paper, invited authors to collaborate, and wrote and edited the manuscript. All other contributing authors (K.B., P.S.B., V.C., A.C., M.C., M.J.C, A.J.C., K.M.D., J.N.D., J.D., O.D., N.E., E.J.F., J.H.F., M.G., S.H., S.A.H., J.J., S.K., D.M., K.E.N., D.J.P., G.P., E.P., R.E.P., D.G.R., S.D.R., S.S., A.S., L.J.S., S.S.S., C.R.S., N.T., J.A.T., S.V.L., P.A.M.V.L., K.A.W., M.J.A.W., J.Z. and S.R.Z.) wrote and edited the paper and are listed in alphabetical order. We thank J. Rothschild for his help in inserting citations and organizing the list of biographical references. The authors declare no competing interests.

Attached Files

Submitted - 2020-COVID-Manuscript-FINAL.docx

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
102979
DOI
10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20200504-130436917

Related works

Describes
10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z (DOI)
https://psyarxiv.com/y38m9 (URL)

Dates

Created
2020-05-04
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
COVID-19