Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine

Julian Scharbert¹, Sarah Humberg², Lara Kroencke², Thomas Reiter³, Sophia Sakel³, Julian Ter Horst⁴, Katharina Utesch², Samuel D Gosling^{5

6}, Gabriella Harari⁷, Sandra C Matz⁸, Ramona Schoedel³, Clemens Stachl⁹, Natalia M A Aguilar¹⁰, Dayana Amante¹¹, Sibele D Aquino¹², Franco Bastias¹³, Alireza Bornamanesh¹⁴, Chloe Bracegirdle¹⁵, Luís A M Campos^{12

16}, Bruno Chauvin¹⁷, Nicoleen Coetzee¹⁸, Anna Dorfman¹⁹, Monika Dos Santos²⁰, Rita W El-Haddad²¹, Malgorzata Fajkowska²², Asli Göncü-Köse²³, Augusto Gnisci²⁴, Stavros Hadjisolomou²¹, William W Hale 3rd²⁵, Maayan Katzir²⁶, Lili Khechuashvili²⁷, Alexander Kirchner-Häusler²⁸, Patrick F Kotzur²⁹, Sarah Kritzler³⁰, Jackson G Lu³¹, Gustavo D S Machado³², Khatuna Martskvishvili²⁷, Francesca Mottola²⁴, Martin Obschonka³³, Stefania Paolini²⁹, Marco Perugini³⁴, Odile Rohmer¹⁷, Yasser Saeedian³⁵, Ida Sergi²⁴, Maor Shani⁴, Ewa Skimina³⁶, Luke D Smillie⁶, Sanaz Talaifar³⁷, Thomas Talhelm³⁸, Tülüce Tokat³⁹, Ana Torres⁴⁰, Claudio V Torres⁴¹, Jasper Van Assche^{42

43}, Liuqing Wei⁴⁴, Aslı Yalçın²³, Maarten van Zalk⁴, Markus Bühner³, Mitja D Back^{2

45}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. julian.scharbert@uni-muenster.de.
² Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA.
⁶ School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, USA.
⁸ Business School, Columbia University, New York, USA.
⁹ Institute of Behavioral Science and Technology, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, National University of the Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina.
¹¹ Research Institute in Basic and Applied Psychology, Catholic University of Cuyo, San Juan, Argentina.
¹² Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹³ Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
¹⁴ Psychiatry Department, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
¹⁵ Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, England.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Petrópolis, Petrópolis, Brazil.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
¹⁹ Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
²⁰ Department of Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
²¹ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Safat, Kuwait.
²² Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
²³ Department of Psychology, Çankaya University, Ankara, Turkey.
²⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.
²⁵ Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
²⁶ Conflict Resolution, Management, and Negotiation Graduate Program, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
²⁷ Department of Psychology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
²⁸ School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, England.
²⁹ Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, England.
³⁰ Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
³¹ Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
³² Department of Psychology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
³³ Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
³⁵ Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
³⁶ Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland.
³⁷ Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, Imperial College London, London, England.
³⁸ Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
³⁹ Human Sciences Department, Verona University, Verona, Italy.
⁴⁰ Department of Psychology, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil.
⁴¹ Department of Basic Psychological Processes, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
⁴² Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴³ Center for Social and Cultural Psychology (CESCUP), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
⁴⁴ Department of Psychology, Hubei University, Wuhan, China.
⁴⁵ Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster, Germany.

PMID: 38378761
PMCID: PMC10879508
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44693-6

Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine

Julian Scharbert et al. Nat Commun. 2024.

. 2024 Feb 20;15(1):1202.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-44693-6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. julian.scharbert@uni-muenster.de.
² Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA.
⁶ School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, USA.
⁸ Business School, Columbia University, New York, USA.
⁹ Institute of Behavioral Science and Technology, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, National University of the Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina.
¹¹ Research Institute in Basic and Applied Psychology, Catholic University of Cuyo, San Juan, Argentina.
¹² Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹³ Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
¹⁴ Psychiatry Department, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
¹⁵ Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, England.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Petrópolis, Petrópolis, Brazil.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
¹⁹ Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
²⁰ Department of Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
²¹ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Safat, Kuwait.
²² Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
²³ Department of Psychology, Çankaya University, Ankara, Turkey.
²⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.
²⁵ Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
²⁶ Conflict Resolution, Management, and Negotiation Graduate Program, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
²⁷ Department of Psychology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
²⁸ School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, England.
²⁹ Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, England.
³⁰ Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
³¹ Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
³² Department of Psychology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
³³ Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
³⁵ Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
³⁶ Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland.
³⁷ Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, Imperial College London, London, England.
³⁸ Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
³⁹ Human Sciences Department, Verona University, Verona, Italy.
⁴⁰ Department of Psychology, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil.
⁴¹ Department of Basic Psychological Processes, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
⁴² Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴³ Center for Social and Cultural Psychology (CESCUP), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
⁴⁴ Department of Psychology, Hubei University, Wuhan, China.
⁴⁵ Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Münster, Germany.

PMID: 38378761
PMCID: PMC10879508
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44693-6

Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has had devastating effects on the Ukrainian population and the global economy, environment, and political order. However, little is known about the psychological states surrounding the outbreak of war, particularly the mental well-being of individuals outside Ukraine. Here, we present a longitudinal experience-sampling study of a convenience sample from 17 European countries (total participants = 1,341, total assessments = 44,894, countries with >100 participants = 5) that allows us to track well-being levels across countries during the weeks surrounding the outbreak of war. Our data show a significant decline in well-being on the day of the Russian invasion. Recovery over the following weeks was associated with an individual's personality but was not statistically significantly associated with their age, gender, subjective social status, and political orientation. In general, well-being was lower on days when the war was more salient on social media. Our results demonstrate the need to consider the psychological implications of the Russo-Ukrainian war next to its humanitarian, economic, and ecological consequences.

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