COVID-19 pandemic as a watershed moment: A call for systematic psychological health care for frontline medical staff

: The COVID-19 pandemic is producing a huge health care burden with millions of cases and thousands of deaths. The coronavirus' high virulence and contagiousness and the frequent sudden onset of illness is overwhelming critical care and frontline healthcare staff. Frontline professionals are exposed to unprecedented levels of intensive existential threat requiring systematic, specialized psychological intervention and support. New psychological services need to be urgently implemented to manage the mental healthcare needs of frontline medical staff working with patients with COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic is a watershed moment: health care systems universally require a step-change to improve our preparedness for future pandemics

Investigating the relationship between intergroup physical contact and attitudes towards foreigners: the mediating role of quality of intergroup contact

Recent research has shown that a brief, casual touch administered by an outgroup member reduces prejudice towards the group to which the toucher belongs. In this study, we take the research on physical contact and prejudice a step further by addressing the relation between individuals’ amount of Experienced Intergroup Physical Contact (EIPC), across distinct contexts and involving different body parts, and attitudes towards foreign people. Specifically, we hypothesized that the amount of EIPC would be positively associated with both quantity and quality of intergroup contact, but that only quality would mediate the relationship between the amount of EIPC and outgroup attitudes, quality being more directly linked to the evaluative component of outgroup attitudes. To attain this aim, we asked participants to self-report the amount of EIPC, the quantity and quality of their intergroup contact and their attitudes towards foreign people. Consistent with our hypothesis: (1) as EIPC increased, positive attitudes towards foreign people increased; (2) higher levels of EIPC were associated with better quality and higher quantity of intergroup contact; (3) only quality of intergroup contact mediated the relationship between the amount of EIPC and attitudes towards foreign people. Results were discussed in relation to research on intergroup contact and physical contact

I love you too much to keep social distance: Closeness in relationships and (dis)engagement in preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

: Although we are witnessing a new phase in the management of COVID-19, understanding what predicts adherence to preventive behaviors still remains crucial. In this study we focus on interpersonal relationships by specifically investigating whether engagement in preventive behaviors when in the presence of others may be a function of the type of relationship (in terms of closeness) one has with others. Because close others are often perceived similar to the self compared to strangers, we put forward that close relationships may inadvertently decrease COVID-19 risk perceptions which may ultimately decrease compliance with recommended behaviors when in their presence. To test this hypothesis, 747 Italian respondents were invited to answer one out of four versions of a questionnaire differing on the target (i.e., friends vs. parents vs. grandparents vs. strangers), including questions regarding COVID-19 risk perceptions and intentions to engage in preventive behaviors. Mediation analysis showed that close relationships (i.e., with friends, parents, and grandparents) compared to nonclose relationships (i.e., with strangers) predicted lower intentions to engage in preventive behaviors via lower risk perceptions. Altogether, these results shed light on the role played by closeness in indirectly shaping individuals' dis(engagement) in preventive behaviors and contribute to better understand possible unconscious biases which may undermine our safety during the COVID-19 pandemic

At the core of cyberaggression: A group-based explanation

In this study, prototypicality of the aggressor was tested as a group-level factor predicting social media users' active participation in cyberaggression. Participants were exposed to a fictitious conversation, in which either a prototypical versus non-prototypical user posted an aggressive comment as a reply to a provocative comment. In line with self-categorization theory, we hypothesized that bystander participants would post an aggressive comment and rate the aggression as acceptable to a greater extent in the prototypical than in the non-prototypical condition. Furthermore, we predicted that perceived normativity of aggression would mediate the effect of prototypicality. Results supported these predictions and showed that prototypical members affect the extent to which collective aggressive behaviors in online interactions are approved and enacted. These findings highlight the importance of group-level factors in the study of cyberaggression and provide important information for understanding the psychological underpinnings of collective forms of online aggression

Imagined Intergroup Physical Contact Improves Attitudes Toward Immigrants

In this set of research, we investigated the effects of intergroup physical contact on intergroup attitudes by relying on indirect contact strategies, namely the imagined contact paradigm. We implemented the imagined contact paradigm by leading participants to shape the mental imagery upon pictorial information. Specifically, in Study 1 participants saw a picture of a white hand touching a black hand [i.e., intergroup physical contact condition (InterPC)] or a picture of an outdoor scene (i.e., control condition), and were asked to imagine being either the toucher or in the outdoor scene, respectively. Results demonstrated that InterPC compared to control condition reduced intergroup bias. In Study 2 we compared the InterPC condition to a condition in which participants saw a white hand touching another white hand [i.e., intragroup physical contact (IntraPC)], and imagined to be the toucher. Again, we found that participants in the InterPC condition showed reduced intergroup bias compared to the IntraPC. Study 3 replicated results of Studies 1 and 2 by using an implicit measure of prejudice. Also, Study 3 further showed that asking participants to merely look at the picture of a white hand touching a black hand, without imagining being the toucher was not effective in reducing implicit prejudice. Results were discussed with respect to the literature on physical contact and prejudice reduction processes

Psychological predictors of protective behaviours during the Covid\u201019 pandemic: Theory of planned behaviour and risk perception

The Covid-19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in January 2020. As a consequence, several protective measures were urged by national governments in order to limit the spread of the pandemic. Drawing on the literature on health behaviours, in the present study, we investigated the psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions, and risk perception) that were associated with two highly recommended behaviours: frequent hand washing and social distancing (i.e., staying at home except for essential reasons). The study employed a correlational design with a follow-up. A questionnaire including measures of psychological predictors was administered via social media to a sample of 403 adults residing in Italy during the lockdown. Self-reported behaviours were assessed one week later. Findings showed that attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control were significantly related to hand washing and social distancing through intentions. Risk perception was a significant predictor of social distancing but not of hand washing. These findings suggest that intervention and communication strategies aimed at encouraging preventive measures during the Covid-19 pandemic should be organized taking into account multiple factors which partially differ depending on the type of behaviour considered. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement

Look and Imagine Yourself Giving that Same Touch: The Role of Intergroup Vicarious Physical Contact in Racial Prejudice Revision

Prejudice reduction has been a core issue in social psychology for many decades. Indeed, research aimed at understanding and defining the ingredients which ameliorate intergroup relations and weaken social exclusion are still under investigation. According to the contact hypothesis positive encounters with out-group members increase in-group favorable attitudes towards those members which further generalize to the out-group as a whole. Unfortunately, direct contact is not always straightforward as different groups tend to ignore each other. Indirect contact strategies (e.g., imagined contact, vicarious contact) have been suggested, to overcome this limitation and ultimately promote positive attitudes towards the out-group). Given the major lack of intergroup direct contact, and the encouraging results obtained from indirect forms of contact, investment in new forms of indirect contact is strongly needed. The present research was guided by recent findings proving that intergroup physical contact, rather than intergroup contact, triggers favorable attitudes towards the out-group. In addition, we focused on the role self-involvement in reducing out-group prejudice, as research has shown that being personally involved in a positive vicarious interaction by identifying with an in-group character positively interacting with an out-group character, ameliorates outgroup attitudes in general. The aim of the current research was to test the effectiveness of a novel form of indirect contact, which specifically focuses on intergroup vicarious physical contact, in ameliorating attitudes towards immigrants. In study 1, participants were either requested to rate the quality of an image depicting a White hand touching a Black hand (i.e., IVPC-low self-involvement), identify with a White hand touching another White hand (i.e; vicarious physical contact; VPC-high self-involvement) or identify with a White hand touching a Black hand (i.e; IVPC-high self-involvement). Study 1 demonstrated that participants who identified with an in-group member touching an out-group rather than an in-group member displayed less implicit out-group prejudice. In addition, experimentally enhancing (vs. reducing) participants\u2019 self-involvement in the IVPC, moderated the beneficial effect of IVPC on out-group prejudice. In Study 2 we compared the IVPC to an intergroup vicarious nonphysical contact condition (i.e; the same two hands were shown but they were not touching each other), and found that the IVPC triggered lower levels of out-group prejudice, and changed acculturation attitudes accordingly, by enhancing the self-out-group overlap