Banca de DEFESA: Natália de Araújo Miranda Tasso

THE ROLE OF THE PERCEPTION OF UNPREDICTABILITY, HARM AND FAMILY SUPPORT IN THE EXPRESSION OF FUNDAMENTAL REASONS AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING DURING THE PANDEMIC

life history strategy, family unpredictability, unpredictability beliefs, subjective well-being, fundamental social motives 

This work explores the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on elements of human psychology, while also examining how perceived family experiences during childhood may have influenced psychological aspects during the pandemic. To achieve this goal, we conducted three independent studies, with the first and third being quasi-experimental and the second an exploratory study, all cross-sectional. Data were collected online, involving 127, 438, and 422 participants, respectively, in each of the studies. The first study demonstrated that both unpredictability experienced during the pandemic and perceived harm played a significant role in promoting self-protective and disease-avoidance behaviors, while also contributing to decreased subjective well-being. In the second study, perceived family unpredictability in childhood revealed impacts not only on the choice of life history strategies but also on the manifestation of fundamental motives, even during the pandemic. Finally, the third study highlighted that perceived family support in childhood emerged as the primary factor influencing the expression of higher levels of subjective well-being and lower levels of self-unpredictability, while suggesting that the pandemic may have heightened the perception of unpredictability in relation to the world, as observed in our sample. In summary, the work provides insights into some of the effects of the pandemic, highlighting the interconnections between childhood experiences, life history strategies, behavioral expressions, and subjective well-being in a global crisis scenario. This integrated perspective enhances our understanding of the factors that influenced the observed human behavioral plasticity during the pandemic.