The present study examined how neuroticism, extraversion, and emotion regulation were related to loneliness and well-being during 6 weeks of major public life restrictions in the Covid-19 pandemic in Switzerland. Cross-sectional results from 466 participants showed that neuroticism and emotion regulation strategies were associated with higher loneliness and lower well-being. However, in contrast to prior research, associations of extraversion with loneliness and well-being were weak and were qualified by interactions with emotion regulation. For introverts, maladaptive cognitive strategies such as rumination or catastrophizing were related to higher levels of loneliness. For extraverts, emotion suppression was related to lower levels of affective well-being. Individuals with low maladaptive regulation reported higher well-being the longer the public life restrictions were in place at the time of study participation. These findings suggest that first, extraversion may lose some of its protective value for loneliness and well-being when opportunities to engage in social activities are limited; second, that loneliness and well-being do not decrease over 6 weeks of public life restrictions; and third, that future studies should further investigate the moderating role of emotion regulation on the link between personality, loneliness, and well-being.

No abstract

This study examined emotion recognition ability (ERA) as a predictor of positive and negative affect in two Australian and one German-speaking samples (total N = 469) during the first 2 weeks of major public life restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic in March/April 2020. Individuals with higher ERA did not report more positive affect, but they felt less burdened and reported less negative affect. This association was fully mediated by lower COVID-19-related media consumption and less negative affect after reading an eyewitness report from an Italian city with a high COVID-19 death toll. However, higher ERA was also related to arguing more with close others. For low-to-medium ERA, an adaptive cognitive emotion regulation style predicted lower media consumption and for medium-to-high ERA, a maladaptive regulation style marginally increased the perceived likelihood of experiencing a similar situation as in Italy, suggesting that regulation style may moderate the ERA–affect relationship.

Romantic jealousy describes a feeling when individuals suspect losing their romantic partner to a potential rival. Social media has a high potential to trigger romantic jealousy as it offers almost unlimited opportunities to build social relationships. Thus, it is unsurprising that many studies are now examining social media‐induced jealousy (SoMJ). However, there has been a lack of standardized instruments that can capture SoMJ independently of a specific social media platform. In the present two studies, we developed the 9-item Digital Jealousy Scale (DJS) in German and English and examined its psychometric properties using three heterogeneous samples from Germany and the United Kingdom. The postulated one-factor structure fitted the data very well. Additionally, construct validity was established by showing the expected correlations between the DJS and personality variables such as other jealousy measures, attachment dimensions, self-esteem, and the Big Five dimensions. The DJS is thus a valuable instrument to assess SoMJ.