The COVID-19 pandemic has created unexpected and extreme stress for individuals across the globe. In this project we explore how Americans have used their possessions to cope with this elevated stress, by focusing on which coping and emotional regulation strategies they engaged in, how these strategies are related to an object's properties, and individual differences in their use.

 

Participants were asked to identify a possession that has helped them cope with stress during the pandemic, explain how it helps them cope, and then provide information about the object itself and its history (e.g., how and when it was acquired) and describe any childhood experiences related to coping possessions.

 

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