Abstract

We think it is safe to say that probably nearly everyone in the world was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as it threatened the well-being of individual people, families, communities, and societies. Around the globe, daily disruption, isolation, violence, and even death were commonplace. Yet, there were positive impacts too, as fallout from the pandemic encouraged some people to take up new hobbies, stay in touch virtually, rekindle relationships and bond with loved ones, and find new resources within themselves. In particular, new-found resilience was measurable at both the individual and group levels, as people and groups learned ways to cope and come together for the greater good. Even so, the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in society, at every level—micro, meso, and macro. Through our interpretation of lessons learned from the pandemic crisis recently experienced, we hope that societies will learn to reduce and prevent negative impacts—and encourage positive impacts—associated with public crises in the future. To this end, this review article highlights important social science perspectives and lessons arising from the pandemic, to encourage more positive outcomes for personal and group wellbeing in future crises. By bringing together cutting-edge literature from several disciplines, this review article allows readers to access and digest a quantity of information that would otherwise require considerable time and effort to assemble. Finally, we offer unique insights, not offered elsewhere, based on this synthesis.