Includes bibliographical references (page 126-155) and index.

Section A. Setting the scene. The need for a social identity analysis of COVID-19 -- A social identity analysis of COVID-19 -- Section B. Social influence. Leadership -- Compliance and followership -- Behaviour change -- Conspiracy theories -- Section C. Social (dis)connectedness. Group threat -- Risk perception -- Social isolation -- Ageing and connectedness -- Collective trauma -- Section D. Collective behaviour. Crowds -- Emergencies and disasters -- Solidarity -- Managing crowds in crises -- Social order and disorder -- Section E. Intergroup relations. Inequality -- Polarization -- Prejudice and discrimination -- Common identity and humanity.

Written by leading social psychologists with expertise in leadership, health and emergency behaviour - who have also played an important role in advising governments on COVID-19 - this book provides a broad but integrated analysis of the psychology of COVID-19. It explores the response of COVID-19 through the lens of social identity theory, drawing from insights provided by four decades of research. Starting from the premise that an effective response to the pandemic depends upon people coming together and supporting each other as members of a common community, the book helps us to understand emerging processes, related to social (dis)connectedness, collective behaviour and the societal effects of COVID-19. In this it shows how psychological theory can help us better understand, and respond to, the events shaping the world in 2020.