Author ContributionsCGS and FKB contributed equally to the article; they conceptualized and designed the study and planned the pre-registration. CGS processed the data and conducted the analyses. FKB with LMG and NCO conducted the literature review and drafted the manuscript, with significant input from CGS, NS, MSW, CHJL, PM, JB, DO, TLM, CAH, IMD, and RVJ. NS and LMG prepared the figures.

No abstract

The contagiousness and deadliness of COVID-19 have necessitated drastic social management to halt transmission. The immediate effects of a nationwide lockdown were investigated by comparing matched samples of New Zealanders assessed before (Npre-lockdown = 1,003) and during the first 18 days of lockdown (Nlockdown = 1,003). Two categories of outcomes were examined: (1) institutional trust and attitudes towards the nation and government, and (2) health and wellbeing. Applying propensity score matching to approximate the conditions of a randomized controlled experiment, the study found that people in the pandemic/lockdown group reported higher trust in science, politicians, and police, higher levels of patriotism, and higher rates of mental distress compared to people in the pre-lockdown pre-pandemic group. Results were confirmed in within-subjects analyses. The study highlights social connectedness, resilience, and vulnerability in the face of adversity, and has applied implications for how countries face this global challenge.

Māori, Cultural efficacy, Culture as cure, New Zealand, Subjective well-being,

These findings replicate and extend the rejection-identification model in a novel cultural context by demonstrating via cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) analyses that the recognition of discrimination can both motivate support for political rights and increase well-being by strengthening ingroup identity. (PsycINFO Database Record