| Popis: |
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to people worldwide having to go into lockdown and to observe social distancing measures. As people in the UK gradually emerge from the recent lockdown, with non-essential shops opening from 15th June and small private gatherings outdoors allowed, a new normal of socially distant interactions will need to be negotiated. In this study, we will use an app we developed in previous research to understand how people feel and behave as they engage in social interactions with family, friends and strangers over a two week period after the most substantial easing of the recent lockdown. Historians have suggested that the end of pandemics are determined by the normalisation of social interactions rather than medical advances or political decisions. Recording social interactions in near-time can provide us with important insights into the level of anxiety that is felt when interacting with different types of people (e.g., known others or strangers, older people, foreigners), in different locations (indoors/outdoors, public/private) and in response to different personal circumstances. This study serves as a pre-study to understand whether the use of the app is feasible and whether initial results suggest that a wider study could generate useful insights. Participants will first be asked to fill in a pre-study survey assessing their lockdown circumstances, social and political trust, community identification and wellbeing. They will then be asked to record every social interaction with a non-household individual for a 14-day period, including self-report measures of emotions and social distancing but, importantly, no identifying information about the interaction partner. The app will also record GPS data of the interaction location that can be adjusted by the participant. At the end of the study, participants will be asked to fill in a post-study survey to assess changes to the pre-study survey measures and to better understand any challenges to the use of the app as a research tool in these circumstances. |
