Psychological Perspective of Experienced Happiness during COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

The global spread of coronavirus has produced an unprecedented impact on people’s lives, psychological health, and happiness. In response to the pandemic, the South African government introduced one of the most stringent lockdown regulations in Africa in order to halt the transmission of the disease in the country. And many scholars are of the view that the COVID-19 regulations may have had unintended consequences on people’s physical and psychological health. This review examined the psychological perspective of experienced-happiness during COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa and the implications it might have on policies and interventions aimed at protecting people's psychological wellbeing in times of disasters and emergencies in Africa. Therefore, the strain of the regulations on relatedness or relationships, social interactions, a sense of healthy emotional and physical interactions with other people during the pandemic and how it impacts on the happiness level of South Africans will be, using the Hedonia and Eudaimonia theorization, a point of departure of this paper. The paper suggests a need to develop an applicable policy that strikes a balance between physical and psychological health.

Keywords: Happiness; Hedonic; Eudaimonic; Lockdown regulations; COVID-19; South Africa