Sandie McHugh

The current researchers carried out a large online survey on 18 March 2020 and unintentionally provided a ‘snap shot’ of how the British population was responding in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between loneliness and mental health at the early stages of the global crisis. This cross-sectional study was carried out using Prolific, an online participant recruitment platform that allowed 1608 responses in just 2 hr. Participants completed measures of Personal Well-being, Psychological Distress, Flourishing and Loneliness. Numerous associations between loneliness and mental health were found. A multiple regression found that 43% of the variance in loneliness can be accounted for by age, psychological distress and flourishing. Responses were also categorised into three groups: the non-lonely (n = 311), averagely lonely (n = 1054) and the severely lonely (n = 243), with analysis indicating that poorer well-being was associated with increased loneliness. Due to the cross sectional nature of this research, determining the direction of causality is not possible. It remains uncertain whether increased loneliness negatively impacted on mental health, whether poor mental health lead to increased loneliness, or both in fact. Current findings suggest that severely lonely individuals may be particularly vulnerable to psychological distress and that individuals with poor mental health may be especially prone to loneliness. Individuals experiencing loneliness and/ or poor mental health will almost certainly need additional support during and beyond the pandemic

To demonstrate early psychological concomitants of the Covid-19 pandemic in England on a sample of younger and older people.
A cross sectional quantitative questionnaire (n = 1608), was conducted on the Prolific website. Participants completed the PERMA Scale (Flourishing), the four Office of National Statistics (ONS4) Wellbeing Questions, the Clinical Outcomes Measure in Routine Evaluation (CORE-10) and the short University of California Los Angeles Brief Loneliness Scale.
Data were gathered on March 18th, 2020, near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study looks at the effects of the developing pandemic on younger participants (age 18 to 25, n = 391) and older participants (aged 60 to 80, n = 104). Flourishing levels for older participants were significantly higher (M=107.96), than for younger participants (M=97.80). Younger participants scored significantly higher on the ONS4 for anxiety and lower than the older participants for happiness, life satisfaction and having a worthwhile life. Levels of psychological distress (CORE-10) were also significantly lower for older participants (M=9.06) than for younger participants (M=14.61). Finally, younger participants scored significantly higher on the Brief UCLA Loneliness Scale (M= 6.05), than older participants (M=4.64).
From these findings, the Covid-19 pandemic was having a significantly greater effect on younger people in England, less than one week before the UK went into “lockdown.” Scores for both the Younger and Older groups on all the study measures were worse than normative comparisons. The study had no specific measure of Covid-19 anxiety, but nor was one available at the time of the survey.
This study suggests that younger people (18 to 25) may be a more vulnerable group during the Covid-19 pandemic than many may have realised.
As a recent British Psychological Society report concluded, there is a lot of untapped wisdom amongst older groups in our society.
This is one of the earliest studies to look at psychological distress before England went into "lockdown."

Modern understandings of leisure have formed in terms of its relationship to work. The effects of industrialization in the western world are well known, regulating time for leisure and, through urbanization, producing social scientific definitions of leisure as either a civic good or a social problem requiring surveillance and regulation. Current predictions of a rapid quantitative decline in work are therefore of serious social, economic and psychological concern, raising questions about the meanings of leisure without work. This paper reviews the historical formation of work–leisure relationships. It then considers predictions of the impact of further technological change on the future of work and proposals for a universal basic income, and the implications of these for free time and leisure. Finally, it reviews the new focus on well-being in academic research and in government policy in the UK, and discusses the importance of leisure in terms of enjoyment of life, meaningful activity and social participation.

We investigated two aspects of credit card repayment decisions: the extent to which the anchoring effect of minimum repayment information may be mitigated by information on alternative anchors, specifically repayments that would repay the balance in two years (Study 1) or nine months (Study 2); and the role of future repayment concern. In two experiments, three realistic credit card statements were presented with different outstanding balances. Participants, who were randomly allocated to one of four information conditions depending on supplementary information provided on the statements, stated how much they would repay that month. They were then asked about concerns they would have about repayment difficulties if they had a fixed consumer loan over three years. In Study 1 the alternative two-year repayment anchor had a negative effect on percent repayment, whereas in Study 2 the nine-month repayment anchor had a significant positive effect, especially for those with higher future repayment concern. Also, in both studies, future repayment concern had a direct inverse effect on repayment decisions which partially mediated the effect of disposable income. It is concluded that the addition to credit card statements of a table of cost and duration information for a range of repayment amounts may usefully support repayment decisions.

This paper presents an analytical comparison of two surveys of subjective perceptions of leisure and happiness. The first was undertaken in 1938 by Mass Observation for its ethnographic study of everyday working-class life in Bolton, or “Worktown”. Leisure was found to be important to happiness insofar as it formed part of an everyday communal life, working through friendship, the appreciation of music and enjoyment of nature, reading and involvement in informal active citizenship. The second survey was undertaken in 2014 as a part-replication of the 1938 survey, using the method adopted by Mass Observation of linking a series of everyday situations and experiences to happiness. A total of 489 self-selecting respondents completed a questionnaire modelled on that used in 1938. The 2014 survey revealed a number of important continuities and differences from the survey of 1938 and the importance of leisure as an agent of happiness rose from eighth place in 1938 to third place in 2014.

Consumers can defuse the financial risks of credit default by taking payment protection insurance (PPI). In two studies, predictions derived from Huber’s risk defusing operator theory of decision making were tested. We investigated the effects on PPI judgements and decisions of previous experience, cognitive appraisal, emotion and changes in PPI cost and level of cover. In Study 1, a randomized groups experiment, 241 high street bank customers were presented with scenarios in which they chose whether or not to purchase PPI. Logistic regression showed that previous experience, the anticipated worry reduction (peace of mind) afforded by PPI, and its perceived value for money, all had direct effects on PPI decisions. In addition, standard regression analysis found that: (1) PPI cost and level of cover significantly predicted the perceived value for money of PPI; and (2) the subjective probability of repayment difficulties predicted anticipated worry about repayment difficulties, which in turn predicted the anticipated worry reduction of PPI. In Study 2, a survey of 300 bank customers, the above direct and indirect effects on PPI decisions were further investigated by path modeling. The final path model was a good fit to the data and confirmed the main relationships described above. Thus, in addition to judgements of the value for money of PPI, worry concerning repayment difficulties, and its anticipated reduction, are strong determinants of consumer credit insurance decisions.

A previous study found that credit consumers’ decisions to purchase payment protection insurance (PPI) were surprising insensitive to changes in cost and level of cover. This was investigated further in a randomized-groups experiment in which these two factors and the cost of credit alternatives without PPI were systematically manipulated. High street bank customers (N = 215) were presented with realistic PPI purchase scenarios and a questionnaire assessing their willingness to pay (WTP) for PPI and perceptions of its usefulness. It was found that: (1) WTP and PPI decisions were insensitive to relatively large changes in level of cover; (2) the perceived usefulness of Premium and Basic levels of cover were not significantly different, although their usefulness was a significant predictor of PPI decisions and (3) sensitivity of PPI decisions to changes in cost was dependent on the cost of credit without PPI. The first two findings are explained in terms of simplified mental representations and the evaluability of insurance cover. It is concluded that further research on the effects of the relative cost of insurance is needed.

Purpose
– Information concerning the long-term consequences of credit repayment decisions is often not available for flexible credit facilities such as credit cards. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of such information in repayment decisions. A dual mental accounting model of money management predicted that repayments would be influenced by both total cost and loan duration information. Experiment 2 also investigated the role of key economic and psychological factors, including some related to a risk defusing operator model of risk management.
Design/methodology/approach – In two questionnaire-based experiments bank customers (n=241; 300) were presented with credit card and remortgage repayment scenarios. In both studies, total cost and loan duration information were varied in a 2×2 randomised-groups factorial design.
Findings – In both studies, analysis of covariance showed that information on the long-term consequences of repayment decisions lead to significantly higher levels of repayment. However, in Experiment 2, it was found using hierarchical multiple regression that disposable income, level of education, and the perception of, and worry about, repayment difficulties had larger significant effects on repayment levels.
Research limitations/implications – The effects of long-term consequence information were interpreted in terms of mental accounting and future-oriented thinking. The effect of concern with future repayment difficulties suggests that borrowers choose lower repayments to control such risks.
Practical implications – Providing total cost and loan duration information for a range of repayment levels could help borrowers make better repayment decisions.
Originality/value – These novel findings contribute to our understanding of borrowers’ repayment behaviour.

Financial capability requires understanding measures of consumer credit cost and using them appropriately in credit judgements and decisions. In three studies, UK adults’ understanding and use of credit cost and duration information were investigated from a bounded rationality perspective. Study 1, part of a representative survey of UK adults (N = 1000), found that when presented with annual percentage rate (APR) participants significantly overestimated the total cost (TC) of a 12-month loan. In Study 2, loan duration and APR were varied in an independent groups experiment (N = 242). Bank customers’ TC estimates were sensitive to both loan duration and APR but TC was again substantially overestimated. Study 3 was an independent groups experiment investigating the effect of APR and TC information on credit decisions (N = 241). APR often influenced decisions between loans varying in duration and monthly repayment, but this effect was moderated by TC information. It was concluded that: (1) people generally misunderstand the relation between APR and TC; and (2) although APR information can have a large effect on credit decisions, its effect is either attenuated or amplified by TC information. The findings are interpreted in terms of a ‘take the best APR’ heuristic and a dual mental account model of instalment credit. Recommendations for improving credit information provision and financial education are offered.