COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: Associations with personality and stress components

Abstract

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.