key: cord-0798098-eq971dn1
authors: Sikali, Kevin
title: The dangers of social distancing: How COVID‐19 can reshape our social experience
date: 2020-08-16
journal: J Community Psychol
DOI: 10.1002/jcop.22430
sha: ddb065385755e66d81cdb43d328dfb389eb366f8
doc_id: 798098
cord_uid: eq971dn1

nan

The rapidity at which the coronavirus disease stroke the world, along with assertions from many researchers who predict that the world might face more dangerous pandemics in the future, builds the ground for legitimate fear. In America, not only do shoppers in grocery stores keep the recommended 6-ft distance from others, but they are also skeptical and distrustful, looking at others as potential disease carriers. What was initially intended to be an innocuous measure to limit the spread of the disease could gradually drive avoidance and exclusion. Certain scientists have asserted that humans might have to live with the coronavirus for a long time, due to lack of vaccine, or that it might become a highly seasonal disease. If we, as a society, do not find ways to maintain physical and emotional connections when facing similar pandemics, the irrecurrence once or twice every decade would only worsen their negative effects on us, and it may make people feel that being isolated and distant is safe, while being outgoing and social is risky behavior. Such an atmosphere would make it more difficult to build social bonds, and it could be the unfortunate future of our communities. Baumeister and Leary (1995) asserted that positive social contact is essential for psychological and physiological health. They also suggest that "human beings have a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonal relationships." While maintaining positive interactions with our communities might seem trivial, it induces a sense of trust and acceptance that we often take for granted. Exchanging a few words with the barista when ordering our morning coffee, or having a random conversation with a stranger at the grocery store are examples of naturally occurring situations that define our social dynamics. However, self-isolation, the 6-ft distance measure, and the use of protective face masks are preventing these basic interactions from happening.

From the early days of the pandemic, it was already clear that individualism was one of the many ways that the crisis manifested in our communities. People rushed to buy items that they considered critical. Pretty quickly, grocery stores and supermarkets ran out of toilet paper rolls and hand sanitizers, often because some individuals bought much more than they necessitated, therefore, showing complete disregard for the needs of others. This individualism, nonetheless, reflects a failure of the US government to provide for citizens during troubled times. In many countries, such as Germany, procurement was centralized by the government to ensure the availability of resources for citizens. This helped prevent shortages in essential items. On a global scale, tensions arose in international relations, as certain governments allegedly diverted shipments of protective masks meant for other countries, in a Machiavellian effort to prioritize the health of their own citizens. These conflicts of interest related to the COVID-19 crisis negatively affected the relationship between leaders of the World.

The coronavirus is not the first pandemic to trigger these effects, but it is more consequential and significant than previous ones because it enforced quarantine in nearly half of the World, within days. The 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the "Spanish flu," was also particularly deadly and devastating. It affected almost every country in the world and claimed more lives than World War I. Similar to what happened with COVID-19, people

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