The current COVID-19 pandemic caught the decision makers in many countries sub-optimally prepared to respond. To better cope with similar situations in the future, it is vital to understand the major predictors of health-beneficial behavior and adherence to imposed mitigation measures and guidelines. To tailor the promotion of government-imposed measures, it is important to understand how the sociodemographic background combined with personality traits affect the perception and responsiveness of people. We investigated the perception and adherence to mitigation measures during the pandemic by examining their trends across several sociodemographic categories and personality dimensions. The strongest predictors of confidence in the preventive measures and their implementation were the participants’ concern of infection and concern of infecting their loved ones, followed by gender and age. Education, settlement size, field and type of employment, household type, own medical problems, and the age and health of the participants’ loved ones had a smaller influence on the perceived guidelines importance and implementation. Adherence to measures was positively related to the participants’ score in conscientiousness and, in lesser extent, openness. Agreeableness, energy, and emotional stability correlated positively with adherence to basic guidelines. Study provides information useful for developing and adapting future public health policies and interventions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02051-5.

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The present study examines the role of personality traits, interpersonal relationships, and sociodemographic factors on perceived stress, related to COVID-19, and compliance with measures to mitigate its spread. Data were collected in the midst of the ‘first wave’ lockdown, with the survey completed in full by 963 participants. We measured stress, directly related to the pandemic, rather than general stress, and were able to distinguish between symptoms of emotional, behavioural, cognitive, physical stress, and alienation with high concordance. We included personality scoring with standardized T-scores, allowing for cross-study comparison, and a broader questionnaire on the participants’ support for COVID-19 mitigation measures. Results of the multiple regression models indicated that low emotional stability and introversion, and high conscientiousness, common conflicts with loved ones, and some demographics (female gender, middle age, chronic health problems) correspond to elevated stress. Conscientiousness was positively associated with total stress and some of its components, whereas opposite results were found for emotional stability. Extraversion was negatively correlated to total stress, its emotional and physical components, and alienation. Surprisingly, increased stress was not related to greater measure adherence. The present results shed light on how personality, interpersonal relationships, and sociodemographic factors influence people’s stress response during a pandemic.

The present study examines the role of personality traits, interpersonal relationships, and sociodemographic factors on perceived stress, related to COVID-19, and compliance with measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. Data were collected in the midst of the ‘first wave’ lockdown, with the survey completed in full by 963 participants. Importantly, we measured stress, directly related to the pandemic, rather than general stress, and were able to distinguish between symptoms of emotional, behavioural, cognitive, physical stress, and alienation with high concordance. We also included personality scoring with standardized T-scores, allowing for cross-study comparison, and a broader questionnaire on the participants’ support for COVID-19 mitigation measures. Results indicated that neuroticism, introversion, and conscientiousness, common conflicts with loved ones, and some demographics (female gender, middle age, existing chronic health problems) correspond to elevated stress. Neuroticism and conscientiousness were positively associated with total stress and some of its components, while extraversion was negatively correlated to total stress, its emotional and physical components, and alienation. Surprisingly, increased stress was not related to greater measure adherence. The present results shed new light on how personality, interpersonal relationships, and sociodemographic factors influence people’s stress response during a pandemic.