# **Week 3 Workshop**

# Our reproducibility plan

The paper we are planning to reproduce is:

> Folk, D., Okabe-Miyamoto, K., Dunn, E., Lyubomirsky, S. (2020) 'Did social connection decline during the first wave of COVID-19? The role of extraversion', *Collabra:Psychology*, 6(*1*): 37. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.365.

- [Paper](https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/6/1/37/114469/Did-Social-Connection-Decline-During-the-First)
- [OSF](https://mfr.osf.io/render?url=https://osf.io/zj9fv/?view_only=b6f77e38fbb54f839d6c2bd1fb8d41c2%26direct%26mode=render%26action=download%26mode=render)

Insert reproduciblity plan (screenshot of plots/tables) below.

## Study 1

## Study 2

# Summary and Reaction Feedback
# Tutorial 4-6PM Group 5

## Summary and Reactions

## Megan

### Summary
**Aims/Hypotheses**
The authors capitalised on existing data collected about people’s social connectedness and wellbeing prior to the pandemic and conducted follow-up studies to measure the change in these variables during the pandemic. They aimed to collect this information and determine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on social connectedness and wellbeing.

The authors hypothesised that overall social connectedness and wellbeing would decline, and that extroverts would experience a greater decline in social connectedness and wellbeing compared to introverts.

**Methods**
There were two pre-registered studies, each looking at different demographics in the population (university students in Canada and adults in America).

There were many measures that were used - each to test for wellbeing, social connectedness and scales of extraversion/introversion adapted from different measures.

**Results/Conclusions**
- Overall feelings of social-connectedness and wellbeing remained relatively the same (very small drops).
- Extroverts did have greater loss of wellbeing compared to introverts
- When you controlled for pre-pandemic levels of social connectedness and wellbeing, there was minimal to no difference in variables between introverts and extroverts.

Authors stated that they were surprised overall that social connectedness did not change during the pandemic despite the restrictions, suggesting that humans are quite resilient when it comes finding other sources of connection.

Generally, the level of decline in social connectedness and wellbeing was the same between introverts and extroverts but extroverts did have a greater decline because “they had more to lose”.

### Reaction 1
I was surprised that… there wasn’t a big difference in levels of social connectedness between introverts and extroverts once you controlled for their pre-pandemic levels of the measures. I expected the same results that the authors hypothesised; extroverts would have greater difference scores for social connectedness or wellbeing because they seem to rely more on social gatherings to become energised. However, it appeared this wasn’t the case which makes me rethink the ways in which social connection can occur - it doesn’t have to be in-person. Extroverts may have found ways to remain connected through frequent calls or messages.

### Reaction 2
It seems that the next step in this area of research would be to… examine the details behind these findings. As the authors suggested, it would be good for future research to determine what types of restrictions impacted the levels of wellbeing the most or methodologically examine the mechanisms extroverts vs introverts used to remain connected and socially active during this time of physical isolation.

### Reaction 3
  I wonder whether…the physical space people isolated in mediated the feelings of wellbeing. I live in a semi-rural area so even with restrictions, I never felt physically constricted by the space I was in so I assumed my mental wellbeing took less of a toll than people who needed to isolate in a studio apartment in the city. Would this geographic variable interact with the extroversion/introversion factor (i.e., people living in metropolitan areas vs semi-rural or rural areas and the difference in social connectedness/wellbeing of participants who scored higher on introversion and extroversion)

## Elyn 2

### Summary
Hypothesis/Aim
1.Has social connection changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
2.Has social connection changed more for extroverts or introverts?

Procedure:
Data containing UBC students’ responses to measures of social connection and lethargy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (Time 1). We will ask the same students to complete the same measures at Time 2 (during the COVID-19 pandemic), as well as a measure of extraversion. Other measures will be included on an exploratory basis.
IV:
predictor variable: participants’ scores on the Extraversion subscale of a modified version the BFI-2-rate their typical personality prior to the pandemic and will answer using a 7-point scale.
Measurement (Dependent variable)
Social connection: will be measured using the 20-item Trait Social Connection Scale (Lee, Draper, & Lee, 2001), which was also completed at Time 1.

Lethargy:a 10-item measure that captures lethargy (as a proxy for well-being) at both Time 1 and Time 2
Extraversion: At Time2, students completed the 12-item extraversion subscale of the Big Five inventory-2 (BFI-2; Soto & John, 2017; α = .88), as well as 3 items tapping each of the other personality facets

Physical Distancing: For descriptive purposes, we asked participants whether or not they were currently practicing physical/social distancing and how many non-household members got within 6 feet of them on the previous day.
Analysis:
H1: conduct a paired samples t-test on Time 1 social connection and Time 2 social connection.
H2: conduct a regression analysis with Time 2 social connection as the outcome variable, and Time 1 social connection and extraversion as the predictors. We will test our key research question by examining the effect of extraversion on Time 2 social connection (controlling for time 1 social connection)

Result: sigificantly lower levels of social connectedness.
extroverts performed better than introverts

### Reaction 1
I want to learn more about the effects of Covid 19 on mental health, especially those who have experienced long-lasting lockdowns. For example, the mental health of people in Shanghai since they have been in quarantines for over a month and they could not access to any kind of social interactions.

### Reaction 2
I also want to learn more about the underlying reasons why introverts and extroverts react sodifferently to the effects of Covid.

### Reaction 3

## Charlie 3

### Summary

The study aimed to investigate changes to social connectedness and wellbeing due to COVID-19. This consisted of two different studies, which used slightly different methods—surverying individuals before and during the pandemic—but had similar measures of social connectedness, extraversion, lethagry and physical distancing. Study 1 was conducted on british university students, whilst Study 2 considered adult participants from 28 different countries.

Study 1 indicated significant (but small) declines in social connectedness and higher levelds of lethargy in university students. Study 2 indicated that adults showed greater increases in lonliness and lower levels of relatedness, which impacted life satisfaction. Overall, both studies indicate little changes to social connectedness throughout the pandemic. Although extraverts showed higher decline in social connectedness and less improvement to feelings of loneliness in comparison to introverts, when the researchers controlled levels of social connectedness, there was no longer an effect.

### Reaction 1

I was surprised that COVID-19 did not have as big as an impact on social connectedness in comparison to my expectations. I have previously discussed with other students about post-isolation anxiety, which included the possibility of some people being overly anxious to socialise after quarantine. However, the study showed that this was pretty uncommon throughout the population of adults and college students, and the impact weas not as significant as I thought it might have been. However, this makes sense as my social connectedness was not highly impacted, but I can still see why it is good to be cautious and sensitive when reconnecting with others.

### Reaction 2

Future work in this area could consider various populations to determine the generalisability of the results. For example, if the study considered individuals with social anxiety, there could be a different result, and instead show a massive impact of COVID-19 on social connectedness. It would also be very interesting for these studies to further follow up on the participants to see if there were any long term impact of COVID-19 on social connectedness and wellbeing.

### Reaction 3

I want to learn more about the effect of COVID-19 on mental health, in particular, mental illnesses. This study considered mental health in the sense of wellbeing, but it may not have used proper scales that have been verified by the DSM-5. For example, we could have used the depression scale. However, it might be a bit too difficult at this stage to consider the aftermath of social isolation, as it may be difficult for people to accurately remember the past.

## Jaclyn 4

## Summary
Aims/rationale
Exploring changes in individuals’ feelings of social connection from pre to during the COVID-19 pandemic and if these changes are different between introverts and extroverts.

Methods
Two separate studies
Study 1:
467 undergraduate students participants from Canadian uni (age: M = 20.89, SD = 3.03; 77% = women)
80% power to detect effects of at least d = .13.
Time 1: demographic items, social connection, lethargy (used as proxy for wellbeing) (Feb 12 2020)
Time 2: same measures of social connection and lethargy measured. Also measured extraversion and experience during COVID (April 1-8 2020)
For course credit or a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card

Study 2:
Sample: 336 adult participants from US and UK (age: M = 32.03, SD = 11.94. 80% men)
80% power to detect effects of at least d = .15
Measured social conntection, lift satisfaction, extraversation, physical distancing at time 1 (feb12 2020) and time 2 (april 1-8 2020)

Results
Study 1:
Participants reported lower levels of social connection during the pandemic but this decline was slight.
Exploratory analyses:
The most extroverted participants had a large drop in social connectedness than the most introverted.
However, when controlled for levels of connectedness prior to the pandemic (making them the same), extroverts have a smaller drop
Bigger drops in social connection are associated with greater increases in lethargy

Study 2:
92.9% of participants reported practising social distancing
Did social connection change?
No differences in social connection, however, reported feeling less lonely during the pandemic
Did social connection change more for extroverts or introverts?
The most introverted showed sig improvements in loneliness. However, when controlled from pre-pandemic loneliness levels there was no sig relationship between extraversion and loneliness during the pandemic.
Is the effect of change in social connection on well-being different for extroverts and introverts?
Changes in social connection and loneliness were linked to changes in life satisfaction for both introverts and extroverts.

Conclusions
No large changes in social connection in both studies pre to during the pandemic.
Extraverts had larger drops in connectedness than introverts (Study 1).
Introverts had higher loneliness than extraverts (Study 2)
When controlling initial levels of social connection pre-pandemic (making the extraverts and introverts have the same level) both extraverts and introverts show similar declines in connection during COVID.
Students who had larger declines in connectedness had larger increases in lethargy (Study 1) and adults with greater loneliness or decreases in relatedness had larger declines in life satisfaction (Study 2)

## Reaction 1
The most interesting part of this paper was that participants’ social connections were not largely impacted by the pandemic, implying that people have found alternate ways to satisfy their need for social connection.
## Reaction 2

## Reaction 3

## Christina 5

## Summary
**Introduction:**

In this paper, researchers were interested to see its effect on social connectedness and wellbeing, and whether personality differences (specifically, extraversion) play a role in influencing the two measures differently.Using two different and independent studies from varying countries, Folk et al. (2020) aimed to measure: 1) social connectedness before and during COVID-19 pandemic (socially distanced), 2) differences in social connected changes before and during pandemic between extraverts and introverts, 3) differences in effect of social connected changes before and during pandemic between extraverts and introverts.

**Study 1:**

*Method*

467 Canadian undergraduates were measured for demographics, social connectedness, and lethargy (proxy measurement of wellbeing) at T1 (pre-pandemic) and T2 (during pandemic). At T2, participants were also measured for extraversion and other exploratory measures (e.g.: experience during pandemic). In the extraversion measurement, participants were guided in a way that they should judge their personality before the pandemic happened—thus eliminated chances of extraversion changes caused by the pandemic.

*Results*
1) Small decrease of social connectedness at T2 than T1.
2) Extraversion correlated with T2 social connectedness (after controlling for T1 social connectedness).
3) Decrease in social connectedness between T1 and T2:
- Most introverted participants (25th percentile of extraversion score): small drop
- Most extraverted participants (75th percentile of extraversion score): big drop
BUT! Reversed effect after controlling for T1 social connectedness (i.e.: extraverted: small drop and introverted: large drop). Explained by extraverts having higher social connectedness at T1, thus larger room to make bigger drops.
4) Increased lethargy reported at T2 compared to T1.
5) Social connectedness inversely correlated with lethargy—no effect of extraversion on this relationship.

*Discussion (limitations)*
1) Only proxy measure (lethargy) was used to infer wellbeing,
2) No extraversion measure at T1 (but guidance to judge extraversion prior to pandemic was effective),
3) Participants limited to Canadian undergraduates.

**Study 2:**

*Method*

336 adults from the US, UK, and other countries were measured for demographics, social connectedness (two measures: relatedness subscale and loneliness scale), personality, and subjective wellbeing at T1 (pre-pandemic) and T2 (during pandemic). At T2, participants were also measured for other exploratory measures (e.g.: experience during pandemic).

*Results*
1) Generally, no changes in relatedness between T1 and T2, in fact, participants reported a little less lonely at T2 than T1 (surprise surprise!).
2) Change in social connection (relatedness and loneliness) do not differ between extraverts or introverts at pre-registered analyses, but exploratory analyses found decreased loneliness at T2 than T1.
Exploratory analyses: most introverted participants (25th percentile of extraversion score) reported decreased loneliness at T2 than T1, while most extraverted participants (75th percentile of extraversion score) reported no change in loneliness levels between T1 and T2. No difference after controlling for initial loneliness levels at T1, thus this result is observed because introverts has more room at T1 (higher loneliness levels than extraverts) to make larger decrease at T2.
3) Stable life satisfaction across T1 and T2, regardless extraversion scale.
4) Life satisfaction correlated to relatedness (direct) and loneliness (inverse), regardless of extraversion scale.

*Discussion (strengths, limitations)*

More generalizable participants (adults from varying countries) – but variabilities between samples persist. For example, how long has the social distancing rules had been imposed, how strict it was, etc.

**General discussion**

This study found that people’s social connection in times of first-wave pandemic and social distancing were not affected much. The researchers suggested that this might be because people still stay reasonably connected online rather than feeling less lonely when deprived from physical social relationships. Although, they also reminded that this study was conducted in early stages of pandemic, which means there are chances that people might still buffer from feeling socially disconnected.

## Reaction 1

First of all, I personally feel that the opposing possible explanation provided by the authors in the introduction (para 4-6) regarding extraversion (extraverts to suffer less due to higher quantity and quality of social relationships, or introverts to suffer less due to less shifts and need in social life) was slightly inappropriate. This is because it has an explanation either way; which is similar to many error theories I have learnt in previous psychology courses (could not remember the exact term, but an approximate example I remember is "Tim worked hard and rarely comes home" one explanation was "this is because Tim hates his family", but when proved wrong, one switches its stand and say that "this is because Tim loves his family (work hard for the family)" -- im not sure if this thought of mine is correct but the feels are similar imo,, pls lmk what you think :)).

## Reaction 2

I am surprised to see that generally, people were not affected much by the sudden social distancing rules imposed. Since we were drastically deprived from physical social connection, I expected to see a considerable amount of drop in social connectedness. However, study 1 only showed a small drop while study 2 showed no change or even improved loneliness. However, as the researchers mentioned, it is important to note that this study was conducted in April, which is not too long in the stay-at-home period. People might still enjoy not having to travel to work, etc. Results might be different if it was conducted in 2021, one year in the pandemic.

## Reaction 3

It is interesting to see that personality differences on extraversion has little to no effect in social connectedness and wellbeing, when physically deprived from social interactions. For long, personality differences have been deemed as the reason to why people show a variety of responses to a same thing or experience, and preferences, also as an explanation to many more psychological phenomenon. The results in this paper sparked my curiosity whether personality differences might actually not have an effect in areas where we thought it have, such as career or success in workplace, health, etc.

# Our assessment criteria

1. My teammate pulled their weight
- i.e. attended Q&A, actively contributed during group meetings - weekly stand-up, helped to google/troubleshoot and supported others in their learning

2. My teammate interacted with the group in a way that created an inclusive environment for us to learn from each other
- constructive feedback
- willing to learn and willing to teach

3. My teammate ... communicates clearly and honestly.
- Timely communication - not leaving it to the last minute and also replying to messages within a reasonable timeframe.
- Being honest and transparent about your boundaries, capabilities or other commitments. Discussing these as a group.

4. My teammate ...engages with the work to the same standard as the rest of the group
- The overall group sets a clear understanding of the quality of work we want to produce.
- We hold all teammates to commit to that quality of work in our project.
- There is a clear agreement to put in extra work if needed to reach that standard.

5. My teammate ... is receptive to my ideas and needs
- Open to changing ideas and/or listening to me
- Able to actively communicate and to be patient, opposed to shutting down a person's idea
- Able to resolve conflict in a mature and responsible manner.