Experienced saudade in times of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Saudade is a Lusophone concept concerning psychological reactions to situations related to the deprivation of loved ones and/or familiar places. It can be assessed empirically using the Experience of Saudade Scale (ESS), which comprises three factors: Lack of loved ones, Lack of intimacy, and Longing for the past. The aim of the study was to obtain further evidence concerning the psychometric properties of this scale and its relationship with psychological well-being and COVID-19-related concepts. Two hundred and nineteen participants, aged 18 to 80, completed the ESS and eight other scales measuring life satisfaction, life purpose, optimism, altruism, coronavirus anxiety, fear of COVID-19, empathy, and experiences related to COVID-19. The fit of the three-factor ESS model to the data was good, and reliability was adequate. All scores related to psychological well-being and COVID-19 concepts correlated with experienced saudade in the expected direction. The COVID-19 scores were able to be related to saudade factors over and above well-being measures.