Truth,hope, compassion in a time of corona virus and a presidential election

Despite signs of public unity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic has also highlighted our divisions, disparities, and racism. The churches can have a voice for greater harmony and community if their public theology flows from their core beliefs and practices and is marked by engagement with truth, and a vision of hope acted out with compassion.     

What is being revealed in 2020?

The Covid-19 pandemic is exposing how humans have long related to nature, and revealing aspects of classism and racism that have long been ignored. Drawing on spiritual resources, such as Luther, might the polarizing, self versus other tendencies be overcome and the long pandemic rooted in economic class and racism more effectively addressed today? Can this result in a “new normal”?     

重大疫情防控中稀缺卫生资源分配的伦理思考

从目前国际上对稀缺卫生资源分配的主要伦理观点和存在的伦理困境入手,重点介绍了美国伊利诺伊大学医学中心的稀缺资源分配决策模型和中国新冠病毒感染疫情期间稀缺卫生资源分配决策模式,认为坚持对健康权和生命权的尊重是稀缺卫生资源分配应坚持的首要伦理原则,建议国家层面需建立稀缺卫生资源分配管理部门以及由相关专家和社区代表组成的稀缺卫生资源分配决策委员会,通过制定以实质公正和医学条件为标准的分配机制,以应对稀缺卫生资源分配中可能出现的伦理问题。

     

Clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Most of the clinical experiences discussed in this article arose from monthly Zoom meetings at Rome’s Italian Centre of Analytical Psychology (CIPA). We set up a discussion group in April 2020, one month after lockdown began in Italy, and these monthly online meetings continue to this day. All senior analysts and analysts-in-training at Rome’s CIPA, whose backgrounds range from child and adolescent psychotherapy to adult psychotherapy and analysis, to sandplay therapy and medicine and psychiatry, have been participating in these meetings. The group discussions focus on the present time and its impact on us, as well as on our relationships with patients. By further developing these reflections during the lockdown in Italy (9 March - 3 May 2020), it is fair to ask whether a sense of unreality, depersonalization, or derealization has occurred, either in the therapist or patient, and if so, whether it is possible that therapists miss the human contact more than clients. We will mainly refer to clinical and personal experiences as our most precious guidelines.     

2009年全球甲型H1N1流感流行病学特征分析

截至8月30日,全球5大洲177个国家或地区共报告甲型H1N1流感确诊病例254206例,死亡2837人,病死率1．12％。病例以青壮年为主,无性别差别,年龄中位数12岁～17岁（范围0岁～85岁）,约10％需住院治疗,37％的住院病例和80％的死亡病例有基础性疾病史或妊娠。全球甲型H1N1流感总体较温和,适时将其纳入季节性流感常规监测,掌握其流行病学和病原学变化,研制安全有效的疫苗;提高医务人员重症病例救治能力均能有效地预防控制甲型H1N1流感。     

Blinded by trust in close others: Examining the effect of social closeness on cooperative behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that individuals cooperate by complying with preventive measures (e.g., wearing a mask). The current research examines how high trust in close others is linked to less cooperation—that is, less compliance with measures—and thus, undermines collective interests. Specifically, we test whether individuals are less willing to comply with preventive measures when interacting with close others they trust. We conducted two experiments in which participants read a vignette depicting a social interaction with either close others (e.g., family) or strangers. Participants had to report the extent to which they would (1) trust the other people in the situation and (2) comply with the mask wearing and physical distancing measures during this interaction. In both experiments, we find that when individuals are considering an interaction with close others, they report experiencing higher trust which is then linked to lower compliance with preventive measures. In Experiment 2, we further demonstrate that participants report less compliance with preventive measures around close others, even when they perceive non-compliance with the measures as morally “wrong”. Our findings shed light on the challenges that compliance with preventive measures poses during social interactions in a context of high trust.     

Similar minds in the family: COVID-19 centrality and relationship quality

We examined whether perceived similarity in COVID-19 centrality (i.e., the extent to which one thinks of the pandemic as shaping current and future life) is associated with family relationship quality during the pandemic. Thinking that other family members are similar to oneself regarding the pandemic's centrality may improve the quality of family relationships. We collected data from Turkish family triads (i.e., mother, father, 18–25 years old child) and had 481 participants from 180 families. Participants rated their similarity in COVID-19 centrality with the other two family members and reported the general and daily quality of their relationship with them (relationship satisfaction, closeness, conflict). We analyzed the data using the Social Relations Model. We found that family members who, on average, perceived more similarity in COVID-19 centrality reported higher levels in positive attributes of general relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction and closeness). The effects on conflict and daily relationship quality were less conclusive. This research confirms that family members' reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic are interdependent. Perceiving that other family members are of similar minds about the centrality of the pandemic relates positively to some aspects of relationship quality.     

Cultural values,system justification,meritocratic beliefs,and evaluations of governments' performance in handling the COVID-19 crisis

System justification and meritocratic beliefs legitimize the status quo of economic, social, and political arrangements, and may correlate with favourable evaluations of governments' performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study furthers research on this topic by examining (1) the cultural value antecedents of system justification and meritocratic beliefs, and (2) the differential effects of these on attitudes toward ingroups and outgroups from an intergroup perspective. The results show that collectivist values positively predict system justification and meritocratic beliefs, whereas a similar effect was not observed for individualist values. As hypothesized, system justification motivation was positively associated with favourable evaluation of the Chinese government (an ingroup). By contrast, system justification and meritocratic beliefs were negatively associated with evaluation of the American government (an outgroup). We discussed the implications for understandings of the cultural value bases of system justification and meritocratic beliefs, and the relevance of the lens of intergroup relations in studying those beliefs.