The role of uncertainty, worry, and control in well-being: Evidence from the COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic in U.S. and China.

Abstract

Uncertainty about the future often leads to worries about what the future will bring, which can have negative consequences for health and well-being. However, if worry can act as a motivator to promote efforts to prevent undesirable future outcomes, those negative consequences of worry may be mitigated. In this article, we apply a novel model of uncertainty, worry, and perceived control to predict psychological and physical well-being among four samples collected in China (Study 1; during the early COVID-19 outbreak in China) and the United States (Studies 2–4, during 4 weeks in May 2020, 4 weeks in November 2020, and cross-sectionally between April and November 2020). Grounded in the feeling-is-for-doing approach to emotions, we hypothesized (and found) that uncertainty about one’s COVID-19 risk would predict greater worry about the virus and one’s risk of contracting it, and that greater worry would in turn predict poorer well-being. We also hypothesized, and found somewhat mixed evidence, that perceptions of control over 1’s COVID-19 risk moderated the relationship between worry and well-being such that worry was related to diminished well-being when people felt they lacked control over their risk for contracting the virus. This study is one of the first to demonstrate an indirect path from uncertainty to well-being via worry and to demonstrate the role of control in moderating whether uncertainty and worry manifest in poor well-being.

Do neuroticism and efficacy beliefs moderate the relationship between climate change worry and mental wellbeing?

“…Likewise, high perceived efficacy can mitigate against the negative impacts of worry on mental wellbeing by enabling worry to fulfil its motivational goal of preventing undesirable outcomes. This argument is supported by evidence from an international study showing that worry about COVID-19 risk was more strongly linked with diminished wellbeing among people who felt they had little or no control over their risk of contracting coronavirus (Howell et al, 2022). We therefore hypothesized that: H3: Efficacy beliefs moderate the relationship between climate change worry and mental wellbeing, whereby the negative relationship between climate change worry and mental wellbeing is stronger among people with low perceived efficacy.…”

Differences in the perceived spheres of control of selected college students in the aftermath of the pandemic

“…A study, which was based on the feeling-is-for-doing theory of emotions, conjectured (and discovered) that a person's level of ambiguity about their risk of catching COVID-19 would lead to increased anxiety about the virus and that increased anxiety would then indicate a lower quality of life. The study also postulated-and found some evidence for-that worries were associated with lower well-being when people believed they had no control over their risk of getting COVID-19 6 .…”

How do contract performance rates affect entrepreneurs’ risk-averse attitudes? Evidence from China

“…For instance, Chirumbolo et al noted negative relationships between job insecurity, life uncertainty, and individual well-being (Chirumbolo et al, 2022). Moreover, Howell et al found that uncertainty about one's COVID−19 risk predicted more significant worry about the virus and one's risk of contracting it and that greater worry would, in turn, predict poorer well-being (Howell et al, 2022).…”