To test if a similar phenomenon occurred in the time of COVID, Neff and her colleagues surveyed 191 participants for 14 days in April and May 2020. Members of the group, which included 81 couples and 29 individuals who had a partner but were participating without that person, answered questions about the sources of their stress and how satisfied they were with their relationship. The researchers then repeated the two-week survey last November and December and analyzed the responses. The team found that people generally blamed the pandemic for their daily stress more than they blamed themselves or their partner. When participants reported that stress was caused by the pandemic, they also reported higher satisfaction with their relationship. Neff says she was surprised to observe that the benefits of pandemic scapegoating lasted for months. “We thought, as the situation lagged on, maybe people would forget about [the pandemic], or the stress would become too much,” she says. “But even in our follow-up wave, it was still beneficial.” Neff posits that because their follow-up occurred in November and December 2020, COVID-19 was still at the top of participants’ minds as they considered how to travel for and celebrate the holidays.