Will the Pandemic Change Our Social Behaviour?

The pandemic is going to be a gold mine for sociologist and psychologists studying the effects of isolation and stress on human behaviour. It's too early to tell what the overall effects will be, but as this article points out, past history has some indicators. 

When Covid-19 cases began emerging in Wuhan, China, citizens in those neighboring countries and cities became hyper-vigilant about not spreading or catching germs. Memories of the SARS outbreak, which lasted from March to June, have been seared into people’s minds years after the outbreak had been contained, and that’s shaped their hygienic behavior, as Nisha Gopalan, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist in Hong Kong, recounted:

"I still compulsively wash my hands, 17 years after the outbreak. I have friends that have been using toothpicks to press elevator buttons for years. Some use tissues to open the doors of public washrooms, or carry spare masks in their handbags in case they catch the sniffles. This is all evidence of the indelible impact SARS has had on Hong Kong’s psyche."

And whereas some Americans are still grappling with orders to wear face masks — a result of mixed messaging from the government at the onset of the pandemic — the practice is almost instinctual in parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, it wasn’t just fear of catching Covid-19 that spurred the public to cover their faces. “This is a new social norm that has already been built up since the SARS outbreak in which the face mask was constructed as a sign of civic responsibility to prevent infecting others,” Judy Yuen-man Siu, a medical anthropologist at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University who studied the shifts in public opinion toward masks in the years following the outbreak, said in an email.

One thing that is different in the current pandemic is the internet and its mitigating effect on social isolation.

 In one study, he looked for signs in space of what isolated Antarctic researchers call the “third quarter phenomenon” — a period of increased stress and interpersonal tension midway through a mission as explorers acknowledge that they must endure the other half before returning home.

“We did not find evidence of third quarter phenomenon in our study of the 30 astronauts and cosmonauts,” Kanas said. “Some got depressed in the third quarter and some got depressed during the first quarter as they were getting acclimated, so there was no consistent effect.” He suggests that may be because unlike the Antarctic researchers who are isolated in an area with almost no telecommunication access, space explorers are able to connect 24/7 with their families through video calls on the International Space Station. (It probably also helps that the crew goes through extensive training beforehand and has support staff who provide brain-stimulation activities as needed.)

That’s not unlike many who are currently isolating at home and experiencing quarantine fatigue. Zoom calls and social apps have virtually connected many to the outside world. Yet the reality is that that connection can’t fully replace physical touch. When the pandemic eases, it’s possible our longing for social interaction in the physical space will have us running to friends and family, but stopping short of jumping back into crowded areas as we remain hyper-vigilant about the threat of the coronavirus.