Society-related Fears and Personal Mental Health

IF 2.8 3区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY

Applied Research in Quality of Life Pub Date : 2024-08-31 DOI:10.1007/s11482-024-10367-0

Michael Mutz

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Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between society-related fears and personal mental health. Respondents of an online survey representing the German population (18 + years) answered how much they are worried about eight societal developments (armed conflicts, social inequality, rise of right-wing extremism, crime and terror, immigration, climate change, artificial intelligence, pandemics). The analysis demonstrate that the sum score of society-related fears is significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Particularly concerns about poverty, digitalization and pandemics are associated with higher anxiety and depression scores. Further explorations show that specific fears are intermingled with political ideologies, i.e. people fear different societal developments according to their ideological standpoints. Politically left-leaning individuals regard climate change and rising right-wing extremism as more threatening, while politically right-leaning individuals’ fears relate more strongly to migrants, terror and crime. The fears with the largest negative effect on mental health are poverty and armed conflicts for individuals who identify as left and digitalization for individuals who identify as right. Overall, findings lend support to the general notion that the world’s current ‘polycrisis’ is highly relevant and generally detrimental for mental health and human wellbeing.

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与社会有关的恐惧和个人心理健康

本文探讨了社会相关恐惧与个人心理健康之间的关系。在一项代表德国人口（18 岁以上）的在线调查中，受访者回答了他们对八种社会发展（武装冲突、社会不平等、右翼极端主义抬头、犯罪与恐怖、移民、气候变化、人工智能、流行病）的担忧程度。分析表明，与社会相关的恐惧总分与较高的焦虑和抑郁水平有明显关联。尤其是对贫困、数字化和大流行病的担忧与较高的焦虑和抑郁分数相关。进一步的研究表明，特定的恐惧与政治意识形态相互交织，也就是说，人们会根据自己的意识形态立场对不同的社会发展产生恐惧。政治上左倾的人认为气候变化和右翼极端主义抬头更具威胁性，而政治上右倾的人则更担心移民、恐怖和犯罪。对心理健康产生最大负面影响的恐惧，对于政治左倾的人来说是贫困和武装冲突，而对于政治右倾的人来说则是数字化。总之，研究结果支持了一个普遍的观点，即当前世界的 "多重危机 "与心理健康和人类福祉密切相关并普遍有害。

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来源期刊

Applied Research in Quality of Life SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： The aim of this journal is to publish conceptual, methodological and empirical papers dealing with quality-of-life studies in the applied areas of the natural and social sciences. As the official journal of the ISQOLS, it is designed to attract papers that have direct implications for, or impact on practical applications of research on the quality-of-life. We welcome papers crafted from interdisciplinary, inter-professional and international perspectives. This research should guide decision making in a variety of professions, industries, nonprofit, and government sectors, including healthcare, travel and tourism, marketing, corporate management, community planning, social work, public administration, and human resource management. The goal is to help decision makers apply performance measures and outcome assessment techniques based on concepts such as well-being, human satisfaction, human development, happiness, wellness and quality-of-life. The Editorial Review Board is divided into specific sections indicating the broad scope of practice covered by the journal. The section editors are distinguished scholars from many countries across the globe.