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The current research includes three studies examining the role of loneliness in biasing perceptions of partner regard, communal motivation, and responsiveness within the context of friendships and romantic relationships, as well the potential role of these perceptions in explaining interpersonal and affective experiences associated with loneliness. Priming transient thoughts of loneliness reduced perceptions of friends’ and romantic partners’ regard and communal motivation (Study 1). In a cross-sectional study of friendships and romantic relationships (Study 2), lonely people perceived lower partner regard and responsiveness partly due to negative biases in interpreting partner behavior, and these perceptions explained the lower relationship satisfaction and commitment reported by lonely people. In a multi-method study of romantic dyads using daily experience, behavioral observation, and longitudinal methods (Study 3), loneliness was associated with negatively biased perceptions of partner regard, communal motivation, and support provision. These negative perceptions partially explained why lonely people were less satisfied, committed, disclosing, supportive, and happy; and partially explained the stability of loneliness over time. These effects of loneliness were independent of, and stronger than, effects of self-esteem, and loneliness explained most effects of self-esteem. Taken together, these findings suggest that loneliness may compromise the quality of close relationships and become persistent due to negative biases in perceiving partner regard, communal motivation, and responsiveness. Implications are discussed.

We conducted cross-lagged panel models to examine reciprocal relations between parent and child depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors across development in a community sample of 599 youths (89.1% White, 7.7% Black/African American, 2.3% Asian, 0.7% multiracial/other; 65.3% had at least one parent with a 4-year college degree). Mothers and fathers completed self-report measures about their own depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors during the years their children were 3 to 15 years old. Child depressive symptoms were assessed with a developmentally appropriate semistructured clinical interview at all time points. Results demonstrated reciprocal pathways between maternal and child depressive symptoms from ages 3 to 15 years serial mediators. Moreover, although child depressive symptoms at age 3 years led to greater maternal and paternal negative authoritarian parenting from ages 3 to 15 years, these effects were not reciprocal. Pathways between paternal and child depressive symptoms were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of examining reciprocal pathways to identify mechanisms in the development of depression within families.

Xenophobia and anti-immigrant attacks rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet this may not be solely due to the disease threat. According to theories of frustration and scapegoating, situational obstructions and deprivation can motivate prejudice against outgroups. Using a global natural quasi-experimental design, this study tests whether the restrictiveness of national lockdowns can explain higher individual-level perceptions of immigrant threat. Data of 45,894 participants from 23 countries were analyzed. Both lockdown duration and lockdown severity were positively associated with individuals’ perceived threat of immigrants. The lockdown effects were independent of objective and subjective measures of disease threat, and there was no evidence that disease threat drives people’s prejudice toward immigrants. Subgroup analysis suggested the lockdown effects were reliable in Europe and the Americas, but not in Asia. These findings suggest a need to mitigate frustration and scapegoating when implementing lockdowns, and to distinguish the influence of societal restrictions from disease threat.

The current research examined the role of values in guiding people’s responses to COVID-19. Results from an international study involving 115 countries (N = 61,490) suggest that health and economic threats of COVID-19 evoke different values, with implications for controlling and coping with the pandemic. Specifically, health threats evoked prioritization of communal values related to caring for others and belonging, whereas economic threats predicted prioritization of agentic values focused on competition and achievement. Concurrently and over time, prioritizing communal values over agentic values was associated with enactment of prevention behaviors that reduce virus transmission, motivations to help others suffering from the pandemic, and positive attitudes toward outgroup members. These results, which were generally consistent across individual and national levels of analysis, suggest that COVID-19 threats may indirectly shape important responses to the pandemic through their influence on people’s prioritization of communion and agency. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.