Social distancing and environmental stressors in homes during times of COVID-19: an Environmental Psychology perspective

Abstract

The objective was to investigate the factors that generate stress in the residential environment of Brazilians during the social distancing measures that were established to control the pandemic of COVID-19. A survey was carried out with 2,000 Brazilians, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and a trigger question, with the results respectively analyzed using descriptive statistics in the SPSS software and textual analysis in IRaMuTeQ. The results were organized into five classes that portray factors relating to the Environmental Stress experienced during this period: “The coexistence house” indicates Crowding and loss of privacy; “The sheltering house” is portrayed as a secure and rooted environment; “The sickness house” signals the relationship with mental health problems; “The multifunctional house” demonstrates the need to organize routine and spaces; and “The closed house” exposes the difficulties in regard to the restriction of mobility and with the physical characteristics of the house. It is concluded that the change in the home environment caused stress and, in turn, environmental comfort is a restoration strategy.