During the COVID-19 global pandemic, individuals have had to learn to cope with isolation and adjust to new social protocols. In Washington state, a lockdown mandate was issued between March to May in 2020 in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases. This study aims to analyze how King County residents experienced the lockdown and the impact it had on their daily activities, behaviors, and wellbeing. We hypothesize that loneliness increases as a person is more physically isolated from others and also as age increases. The data for this research was collected through an online survey which included the UCLA Loneliness Scale. An additional 16 questions examined demographics and the dynamics within the household including household size, pets, and romantic relationships and how they relate to the person’s experience of loneliness. The survey was distributed through Qualtrics to undergraduate psychology classes and faculty at Bellevue College and South Seattle College and to the researchers’ social circles via email and social media platforms. Participants were residents of King County during the Washington State COVID lockdown and ranged in age from 18 to 65 years old. We aim to investigate if the lockdown measures taken during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rise in loneliness considering that loneliness has been associated with major public health concerns including mental health problems, chronic physical ailments, and increased likelihood of mortality.

As the democratization of online technology continues to grow, the population of the online world continues to develop rapidly, and the virtual world has evolved to be as expansive as our natural world with its own set of unique governing variables. Social phenomena typically prevalent within physical societies manifests within these online communities; one such phenomenon is social ostracism. Exploration into cyberpsychology, a field specializing in the investigations of technologically interconnected human behavior, points to the online disinhibition effect, a theory posited by cyberpsychologist John Suler, as a key contributor behind the rise of social ostracism within the online world. I hypothesize that the psychological mechanisms behind cancel culture are influenced by certain behavioral factors that motivate social standing within peer groups and numerous technological variables prevalent in online social media that exacerbate such behavior. The research method primarily revolves around a rigorous review of the literature surrounding cancel culture and its roots in societal development. Furthermore, results from open-ended interviews with 15 proponents of cancel culture within social media platforms, such as Twitter, provide insight into the behavioral patterns that underlie cancel culture rallies. I found that sociometric status and mob mentality are salient motivators for online citizens to participate in cancel culture; online users ostracise others to appear more upright in comparison while joining the majority of persecutors to cultivate unity within the group. Additionally, I found that online factors, such as asynchronicity and anonymity, further incentivize combative behavior by lowering one’s inhibition and sense of restraint online. Cancel culture could potentially cultivate a future riddled with arbitrary policing and diminished freedom of expression. Understanding the psychology behind such a phenomenon would result in a deeper awareness of the covert psychological effects that plague netizens and could create a foundation for a more mindful online presence.