The upside: How people make sense of difficulty matters during a crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT We used IBM theory and the COVID-19 pandemic to test the prediction that how people respond to all-encompassing life difficulties requiring novel difficult tasks/goals is a function of what they infer about their identities from these experiences of difficulty (N = 698 U.S. adults, three datasets). People were more likely to see silver linings if they experienced difficulties with a task/goal as implying its importance and life difficulties as opportunities for self-improvement. People who endorsed difficulty-as-importance were more likely to mask, distance, and wash hands in part because they saw silver linings for themselves in the pandemic; for difficulty-as-improvement, silver linings fully mediated these effects. People apply their difficulty-as-importance and difficulty-as-improvement mindsets to cope with novel life difficulties.