Open Webinar #10: "Life Satisfaction and Moral Values Under the COVID-19 Pandemic"

The final session of the NUCB Business School 2020 Spring Semester open webinar series “Leading in Turbulent Times” was held on Tuesday, July 28th. The speaker for the session, entitled “Life Satisfaction and Moral Values Under the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was Professor Joonha Park, a faculty member specializing in human and organization psychology.

Her talk explored the different shifts in attitudes and behaviors that occur during a pandemic situation, and how ideas of well-being and happiness are redefined in potentially life-threatening circumstances. She revealed how ongoing studies have revealed differences in these shifts along the lines of gender, nationality, and age. A main takeaway was that the pandemic seems to be having an amplifying effect on certain attributes in individuals, such as anxiousness or openness, leading to either calls for unity and democratic organization, or the widening of social divisions.

Recalling earlier reflections from previous speakers, remarks from the speaker and attendees brought to mind how the strength of early reactions to COVID-19 created an equally strong and lasting impact in the economy and in organizations themselves, revealing latent internal weaknesses in governments, businesses, and societies throughout the world.

As the world moves to establish and adapt to a “new normal,” how individuals and organizations choose to act upon these weaknesses, shifting operations and behavior to correct them and innovating new methods of interaction, will become the true test of leadership in turbulent times by which the future will judge the COVID-19 generation.