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Abstract
Using individuals' life history information from a large-scale national survey (N = 13,044), we causally evaluate how exposure to SARS-Cov-1, the first global pandemic in the 21st century, affects long-term psychological well-being. We find that exposure to local pandemic risk, that is, local deaths due to the pandemic, significantly reduced people's mental health 12 years later. Consistent with the belief-based account of depression, exposure to pandemic risk resulted in more pessimistic beliefs about the future and survival probability. People reduced savings and increased hedonic consumption, suggesting a “carpe diem” effect of the pandemic exposure.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Economic Inquiry |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 31 Aug 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful for the comments by the editor, the data editor, two reviewers, Hongqiao Fu, Yunfeng Lu, Ju Shi, Zhengxiu Sun, Chengwei Wang, and seminar participants at Chongqing University, Jinan University, Peking University, and Shandong University. Special appreciation goes to Ze Song for his invaluable assistance with data processing. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72074045), the Faculty Research Grant (DB22A6) at Lingnan University, and the Summer Research Grant at Sungkyunkwan University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Western Economic Association International.
Keywords
- belief formation
- carpe diem
- pandemic
- psychological well-being
- risk perception
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Dive into the research topics of 'Pandemic exposure and long‐run psychological well‐being'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
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Shadow of Pandemics: Exposure to SARS and Long-term Psychological Well-being Afterward
LI, Y. & ZHANG, X.
1/01/22 → 31/12/23
Project: Grant Research