While the COVID-19 pandemic may be classified as a natural disaster, the socioeconomic conditions that have made communities of color disproportionately vulnerable to the virus are socially constructed. Psychological scientists explore race, and racial health disparities, as a process.
Some human conduct widely considered to be nasty or harmful, such as objectification and gossiping, may have some beneficial features after all, according to a stream of recent behavioral studies.
For psychological scientists, exploring the less pleasant aspects of individual and social nature is an occasional necessity.