Investigating how individual differences influence responses to the COVID-19 crisis: The role of maladaptive and five-factor personality traits

Abstract

Introduction Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic impacted both the physical and psychological aspects of people’s lives. Personality traits are one of the factors that explain the diverse responses to stressful situations. This study aimed to investigate whether five-factor and maladaptive personality traits are associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicide risk, self-reported COVID-19 symptoms, and preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, comprehensively. Methods We conducted an online survey among a representative sample of 1,000 Koreans between May 8 to 13, 2020. Participants’ five-factor and maladaptive personality traits were measured using the multidimensional personality inventory, the Bright and Dark Personality Inventory. COVID-19 symptoms, depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicide risk, and preventive behaviors were also measured. Results The results revealed that maladaptive personality traits (e.g., negative affectivity, detachment) had positive correlations with depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicide risk, and COVID-19 symptoms, and the five-factor personality traits (e.g., agreeableness, conscientiousness) had positive correlations with preventive behaviors. Conclusion Our findings extend the current understanding of the relationship between five-factor and maladaptive personality traits and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Longitudinal follow-up should further investigate the influence of personality traits on an individual’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Big Five traits predict stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for the role of neuroticism

“…Moreover, higher levels of openness were related to the higher levels of stress during the pandemic. Openness has been previously shown to be associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms and suicide risk ( Blüml et al, 2013 ; Han et al, 2021 ), and less fear of infection in the context of COVID-19 ( Martin, 2020 ). Hence, openness to experience as a personality trait can be taken as a vulnerability factor during the COVID-19 pandemic as it can possibly increase the involvement into various types of risk behaviors, which in turn can be related with experiencing higher levels of stress.…”

“…However, when considering this relationship, contextual or situational factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, should also be considered. Personality is one of the factors which may explain individual differences in response to challenging situations ( Han et al, 2021 ). As Modersitzki et al (2020) have underlined, psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have strong associations with person-level variables such as personality characteristics.…”

“…Previous studies during the pandemic have studied personality factors in relation to engagement in preventive behaviors and compliance to measures (e.g., Carvalho et al, 2020 ; Han, 2021 ; Zajenkowski et al, 2021 ), subjective well-being ( Anglim & Horwood, 2021 ; Modersitzki et al, 2020 ), depressive and anxiety symptoms and suicide risk ( Han et al, 2021 ), stress-related ( Zacher & Rudolph, 2021 ) and global pandemic-related appraisals ( Modersitzki et al, 2020 ), COVID-19 anxiety ( Nikčević et al, 2021 ), and behavioral and emotional responses including relaxation and emotional improvement or negative emotional response ( Kohút et al, 2021 ). Therefore, although there are several studies investigating the implications of personality for mental health outcomes during the pandemic, to the best of our best knowledge, no studies have examined the link between personality, pandemic-related stress levels, and loneliness simultaneously during the pandemic.…”

Burnout, Resilience, and COVID-19 among Teachers: Predictive Capacity of an Artificial Neural Network

“…This scenario has resulted in teachers having to implement a series of strategies to combat stress [56]. It is estimated that as the environmental conditions have changed, the responses that can be given to the questionnaires, in particular, and to the environment in general, have been modified and that there are also individual differences [57][58][59].…”

Goals and good health: Undergraduates' goals for avoiding COVID-19

“…Previous work documented that individual differences relate to various COVID-19 related behaviors ( Makhanova & Shepherd, 2020 ). For instance, those higher on extraversion were less likely to engage in social distancing ( Han et al, 2021 ). In the current study, extraversion was not related to stating a COVID-19 goal.…”