Change in five-factor model personality traits during the acute phase of the coronavirus pandemic

Comparison of dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in healthy participants

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, depression and suicide rates increased worldwide, and in Japan. Presumably, an increase of neuroticism-related personality traits mediates the relation linking the COVID-19 pandemic with depression and suicide. This study examined COVID-19 pandemic effects on dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, in healthy participants.

METHODS

The study used Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) -24 data of three subscales (i.e., achievement, dependency, and self-control) obtained from 270 Japanese medical students during October 2017 - June 2022. Participants were divided into two groups: those for whom DAS-24 was assessed before the pandemic (phase 1 group, October 2017 - March 2020, n = 178) and those for whom DAS-24 was assessed during the pandemic (phase 2 group, April 2020 - June 2022, n = 92).

RESULTS

Total DAS-24 scores of the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.047) lower than those of the phase 1 group. Scores of the dependency subscale for the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.002) lower than those for the phase 1 group, but no significant difference was found in the scores of the achievement and self-control subscales.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that a decrease in DAS-24 scores, particularly of the dependency subscale, occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible mechanisms underlying these results are 1) individuals became less preoccupied with receiving evaluation, 2) individuals realized that self-cognition depending on the approval of others is unimportant, and 3) high levels of dysfunctional attitude were maladaptive for obtaining affective benefits via social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personality Trait Change Across a Major Global Stressor

The current research examined three related questions in a 21-month longitudinal study of a diverse sample of U.S. participants (N = 504): (a) How did Big Five traits change during the COVID-19 pandemic? (b) What factors were associated with individual differences in trait change? and (c) How was Big Five trait change associated with downstream well-being, mental health, and physical health? On average, across the 21-month study period, conscientiousness increased slightly, and extraversion decreased slightly. Individual trajectories varied around these average trajectories, and although few factors predicted these individual differences, greater increases in conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, and greater decreases in neuroticism were associated better well-being and fewer mental and physical health symptoms. The present research provides evidence that traits can change in the context of a major global stressor and that socially desirable patterns of trait change are associated with better health.

Purpose in life and stress: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 16 samples

Background

Purpose in life is a psychological resource that has been associated with better regulation of stress. The present research reports a coordinated analysis of the association between purpose in life and subjective stress and evaluates potential sociodemographic and mental health moderators of this association.

Methods

With individual participant data from 16 samples (total N=108,391), linear regression examined the association between purpose in life and general subjective feelings of stress, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results

Greater purpose in life was associated with less subjective stress (meta-analytic estimate=-.228, 95% Confidence Interval=-.292, -.164; p<.001). Interaction terms between sociodemographic factors and purpose tested in the individual samples and synthesized with meta-analysis were not significant, which indicated that the association between purpose and stress was similar across age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education. The association was also not moderated by psychological distress. Meta-regressions further indicated that this association was generally similar across scale length, content of the purpose measure, and across samples from Eastern and Western countries.

Limitations

The associations reported are observational. Experimental work is needed to evaluate causality.

Conclusions

Purpose in life is associated with less subjective stress across populations. Less subjective stress may be one mechanism through which purpose contributes to better mental and physical health.

Temporal clustering of social interactions trades-off disease spreading and knowledge diffusion

Non-pharmaceutical measures such as preventive quarantines, remote working, school and workplace closures, lockdowns, etc. have shown effectiveness from an epidemic control perspective; however, they have also significant negative consequences on social life and relationships, work routines and community engagement. In particular, complex ideas, work and school collaborations, innovative discoveries and resilient norms formation and maintenance, which often require face-to-face interactions of two or more parties to be developed and synergically coordinated, are particularly affected. In this study, we propose an alternative hybrid solution that balances the slowdown of epidemic diffusion with the preservation of face-to-face interactions, that we test simulating a disease and a knowledge spreading simultaneously on a network of contacts. Our approach involves a two-step partitioning of the population. First, we tune the level of node clustering, creating 'social bubbles' with increased contacts within each bubble and fewer outside, while maintaining the average number of contacts in each network. Second, we tune the level of temporal clustering by pairing, for a certain time interval, nodes from specific social bubbles. Our results demonstrate that a hybrid approach can achieve better trade-offs between epidemic control and complex knowledge diffusion. The versatility of our model enables tuning and refining clustering levels to optimally achieve the desired trade-off, based on the potentially changing characteristics of a disease or knowledge diffusion process.

Phase-wise evaluation and optimization of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S

Given that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and other therapies is greatly limited by the continuously emerging variants, non-pharmaceutical interventions have been adopted as primary control strategies in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, implementing strict interventions over extended periods of time is inevitably hurting the economy. Many countries are faced with the dilemma of how to take appropriate policy actions for socio-economic recovery while curbing the further spread of COVID-19. With an aim to solve this multi-objective decision-making problem, we investigate the underlying temporal dynamics and associations between policies, mobility patterns, and virus transmission through vector autoregressive models and the Toda-Yamamoto Granger causality test. Our findings reveal the presence of temporal lagged effects and Granger causality relationships among various transmission and human mobility variables. We further assess the effectiveness of existing COVID-19 control measures and explore potential optimal strategies that strike a balance between public health and socio-economic recovery for individual states in the U.S. by employing the Pareto optimality and genetic algorithms. The results highlight the joint power of the state of emergency declaration, wearing face masks, and the closure of bars, and emphasize the necessity of pursuing tailor-made strategies for different states and phases of epidemiological transmission. Our framework enables policymakers to create more refined designs of COVID-19 strategies and can be extended to other countries regarding best practices in pandemic response.

Purpose in life, stress mindset, and perceived stress: Test of a mediational model

Purpose in life is associated with less perceived stress and more positive worldviews. This study examined whether people with more purpose adopt a mindset that views stress as beneficial rather than harmful and whether this mindset is one mechanism between purpose and less stress. We used a short-term longitudinal study (N=2,147) to test stress mindset as a mediator between purpose in life measured prior to the pandemic and stress measured early in the pandemic. We also tested Covid-related worry as a mechanism, given the measurement period spanned pre-pandemic to the first shutdowns in the United States. In contrast to expectations, purpose was unrelated to whether stress was conceptualized as beneficial or harmful (b=.00, SE=.02; p=.710) and thus stress mindset did not mediate the prospective association between purpose and stress. Both purpose in life (b=-.41, SE=.04, p<.001) and stress mindset (b=-.24, SE=.04; p<.001) were independent prospective predictors of stress. Purpose was related to less Covid-related worry, which was a significant mechanism between purpose and stress (indirect effect=-.03, SE=.01; p=.023). A stress-is-enhancing mindset predicted less stress but did not explain why purpose was associated with less perceived stress, whereas fewer Covid-related worries was one pathway from purpose to less stress.

Niche diversity effects on personality measurement - evidence from large national samples during the COVID-19 pandemic

We report systematic variability in the psychometric properties of a brief personality inventory during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon recent discussions about the universality vs cultural relativism of personality measures, we review and comparatively test theories predicting systematic variability in personality measurement across cultures using an established brief personality measure applied to population samples in 16 nations during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 35,052). We found systematic variation in factor replicability and effective dimensionality. In line with previous theorizing, factors replicated better in contexts with greater niche diversity. Examining possible drivers underlying this association, the investigation of the individual components in the niche construction index suggested that life expectancy and to a lesser degree economic complexity are associated with greater personality structure differentiation. Population-level indicators of acute threat due to COVID-19 did not show credible effects. These patterns suggest that a) investigation of personality structure in population samples can provide useful insights into personality dynamics, b) socioecological factors have a systematic impact on survey responses, but c) we also need better theorizing and research about both personality and culture to understand how niche construction dynamics operate.

Five-Factor Model Personality Domains and Facets Associated with Markers of Cognitive Health

Using a diverse, age-stratified sample (N=3,478; age range 18-90) this study examines the cross-sectional association between five-factor model personality traits - domains and facets - and three measures of cognitive health - processing speed, visuospatial ability, subjective memory - and whether these associations vary by age, race, and ethnicity. Consistent with the literature on personality and cognitive health, higher openness and conscientiousness were associated with better cognitive performance and subjective memory, whereas higher neuroticism was associated with slower processing speed and worse subjective memory but was unrelated to visuospatial ability. Moderation analyses suggested some associations were stronger in midlife compared to younger and older adulthood but were generally similar across race and ethnicity. The facet-level analyses indicated the components of each domain most strongly associated with cognitive function (e.g., the responsibility facet of conscientiousness) and suggested some differences across facets within the same domain (e.g., depression was associated with worse performance, whereas anxiety was unrelated to performance; sociability was the only facet of extraversion associated with worse performance). The present research is consistent with the larger literature on personality and cognition and extends it by documenting similarities and differences across facets and demographic groups.

How did the beginnings of the global COVID-19 pandemic affect mental well-being?

The present study aims to investigate longitudinal changes in mental well-being as well as the role of individual differences in personality traits (Big Five) and the level of Personality Organisation during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Overall, 272 adults (Mage= 36.94, SDage= 16.46; 68.62% female, 23.45% male, 0.69% non-binary) took part in our study with four weekly surveys during the lockdown as well as a follow-up one month after restrictions were lifted. To analyse the development of mental well-being during and shortly after the first lockdown in Germany latent growth curve models (LGCM) were calculated. The considered facets of well-being differ by their trajectory. Additionally, results suggest that the lockdown did not affect all facets to the same extent. While Life Satisfaction decreases in the short term as a reaction to the lockdown, Stress and Psychological Strain were reduced after the second week of contact restrictions. When adding personality characteristics, our results showed that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were the two dimensions associated most strongly with SWB during the first month of the pandemic. Thus, our research suggests that personality traits should be considered when analysing mental well-being.

Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on lifestyle behaviors and their association with personality among adults in Qatar: A cross-sectional study

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) resulted in lockdowns and social distancing measures enforced by governments around the world. This study aimed to identify changes in adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) and physical activity (PA) and associations with personality during lockdown. Using a cross-sectional design, a convenient sample of 543 adults in Qatar completed an online questionnaire consisting of validated tools to measure adherence to MD (MEDAS questionnaire, score ranges 0–13), PA (IPAQ, assessing light, moderate high intensity PA) and personality (BFI-10, categorizing individuals’ personalities). The majority of the participants were female (89%), aged between 21 and 29 years (45%). The overall MD adherence decreased during lockdown (5.9 vs. 6.1, p < 0.001). There was an increase in olive oil (9% vs. 12%; p < 0.001), vegetables (54.3% vs. 58.7%; p = 0.005), legumes (11.8% vs. 15.3%; p = 0.007), sofrito (70.9% vs. 77.3%; p < 0.001) and fat (45.9% vs. 53.8%; p < 0.001) consumption and a decrease in fresh fruit (39.4% vs. 15.8%; p < 0.001) and fish/seafood (5.9% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.0035) consumption during lockdown. Met-min/week values of total PA (1330.5 vs. 1836.7), vigorous activity (711.5 vs. 867.4), moderate activity (208.3 vs. 301.3), and walking (410.7 vs. 668.0) all decreased during lockdown (p < 0.001, p = 0.010, p = 0.010 p < 0.001, respectively), while sitting increased (3837.3 vs. 2896.4 p < 0.001). The extraversion personality dimension had a higher MD adherence (p = 0.039) compared to agreeableness before lockdown. No changes in MEDAS scores were observed during lockdown in those with high levels of openness. Openness was positively associated with all PA (p = 0.027), including walking (p = 0.026), and negatively associated with sitting (p = 0.038) before lockdown, while participants with high scores for neuroticism were less likely to be sitting during lockdown (p = 0.042). The findings can be used to guide the development of appropriate personality-tailored lifestyle interventions.

Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States

Five-factor model personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) are thought to be relatively impervious to environmental demands in adulthood. The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented opportunity to examine whether personality changed during a stressful global event. Surprisingly, two previous studies found that neuroticism decreased early in the pandemic, whereas there was less evidence for change in the other four traits during this period. The present research used longitudinal assessments of personality from the Understanding America Study (N = 7,109; 18,623 assessments) to examine personality changes relatively earlier (2020) and later (2021–2022) in the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Replicating the two previous studies, neuroticism declined very slightly in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels; there were no changes in the other four traits. When personality was measured in 2021–2022, however, there was no significant change in neuroticism compared to pre-pandemic levels, but there were significant small declines in extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The changes were about one-tenth of a standard deviation, which is equivalent to about one decade of normative personality change. These changes were moderated by age and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, but not race or education. Strikingly, younger adults showed disrupted maturity in that they increased in neuroticism and declined in agreeableness and conscientiousness. Current evidence suggests the slight decrease in neuroticism early in the pandemic was short-lived and detrimental changes in the other traits emerged over time. If these changes are enduring, this evidence suggests population-wide stressful events can slightly bend the trajectory of personality, especially in younger adults.

Collective Stressors Affect the Psychosocial Development of Young Adults

Young adulthood is a critical developmental life stage and a period of enhanced vulnerability to stress. In 2020, young adults in Northern California were faced with a series of unforeseen, collective stressors: the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme wildfires, social tension associated with the murder of George Floyd, and a contentious election that culminated in an attack on the nation’s capital. In a natural experiment, we compared the psychosocial development of 415 young adults across 8 monthly assessment waves during 2020 to a control cohort ( n = 465) who completed the same assessment protocol in 2019, prior to the onset of stressors. Results of latent growth curve models indicated that the 2020 cohort had less adaptive trajectories of affective well-being and lower levels and less adaptive trajectories of social functioning, suggesting detrimental effects of cumulative, collective stressors on the socio-emotional development of young adults.

How has the effect of brand personality on customer-based brand equity changed over time? Longitudinal evidence from a panel data set spanning 18 years

Using a panel data set (n = 49,626), this research tests opposing hypotheses about the influence of brand personality dimensions (BPDs) on customer-based brand equity (CBBE) and the evolution of this influence over an 18-year period. The results show that, on average, the BPDs of excitement, competence, and sincerity have more positive effects on CBBE than sophistication and ruggedness. Furthermore, the effects of sincerity, sophistication, and ruggedness on CBBE have declined over time while the effects of excitement and competence have grown more positive: A 1% change in excitement is associated with a .45% change in CBBE in 2001 and a .71% change in 2018 (a 58% increase), while a 1% change in competence is associated with a .42% change in CBBE in 2001 and a .60% change in 2018 (a 43% increase). How these effects vary between countries, industry sectors, and brand types is also explored.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00895-2.

Sense of purpose in life and concurrent loneliness and risk of incident loneliness: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 135,227 individuals from 36 cohorts

BACKGROUND

Sense of purpose, the feeling that one's life is goal-oriented and driven, tends to be protective for psychological health. Less is known about its relation with social health, particularly loneliness. We test whether the cross-sectional association between purpose and loneliness is replicable and whether purpose protects against the development of incident loneliness over time.

METHODS

Participants from 36 cohorts (total N = 135,227; age range 18-109) reported on their sense of purpose, loneliness, and psychological distress. Follow-up measures of loneliness were available in 28 cohorts that ranged from six weeks to 15 years. Prospective, random-effect meta-analysis was used to summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from each cohort.

RESULTS

Sense of purpose was associated significantly with less loneliness in all 36 cohorts, controlling for sociodemographic factors (meta-analytic mean effect estimate = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.34, -0.29, p < .001). This association was stronger among participants experiencing concurrent severe psychological distress. Sense of purpose was protective against the development of new incident loneliness (meta-analytic mean hazard ratio estimate = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.82, 0.87, p < .001). Age did not moderate any of the associations.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include the lack of lower-income countries. The mechanisms that explain this association also need to be identified in future research.

CONCLUSIONS

Sense of purpose is associated with less loneliness and with protection against developing loneliness over time, associations that replicated across cohorts from North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Sense of purpose may be a useful target of intervention to prevent or reduce loneliness, especially among individuals suffering from psychological distress.

The Effect of Personality on Chrononutrition during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Qatar

The COVID-19 lockdown has had a significant impact on people’s lives worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the effect of personality on chrononutrition during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using a cross-sectional design, a convenient sample of 543 adults in Qatar completed an online questionnaire using validated tools to assess personality and chrononutrition behaviors during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Participants scoring high in openness were more likely to eat at night (mean difference (MD) = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10, 0.72) compared to those scoring high in agreeableness, while those scoring high in extraversion and openness had a shorter eating window (MD = −76.6, 95%CI: −146.3, −6.93 and MD = −29.8, 95%CI: −56.5, −3.01, respectively). Participants high in extraversion had longer evening latency (MD = 66.3, 95%CI: 25.4, 107.3) and evening eating (MD = −62.0, 95%CI: −114.0, −9.0) compared those high in agreeableness. Participants high in conscientiousness showed evidence of first eating event misalignment during the weekend (MD = 22.0, 95%CI: 0.15, 43.9) and last eating event misalignment during weekdays (MD = −27.8, 95%CI: −47.3, −8.41) compared to those high in agreeableness. Lastly, participants high in openness showed evidence of eating window misalignment during the weekend (MD = 30.6, 95%CI: 5.01, 56.2). This study suggests that personality traits can inform personalized nutritional approaches when aiming for healthy habits during unexpected periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Existential Well-being, Mental Health, and COVID-19: Reconsidering the Impact of Lockdown Stressors in Moscow

Background

Initial psychological papers on COVID-19, mental health and wellbeing mostly focus on the aftermath lockdown-related stress and stress related to the disease itself. Still, we presume that personal well-being can be resistant to stressors depending on the way the person is settled in their life.

Objective

We seek to reconsider the contribution of lockdown-related stressors to existential well-being, to assess existential well-being during the outbreak and to compare the contribution of living conditions and COVID-19-related factors on well-being.

Design

An online survey was conducted during the peak of the outbreak in Moscow (April-May 2020) (N=880). The data was obtained using the "Test of Existential Motivations" questionnaire and a series of questions addressing (1) living conditions - mental and physical health, employment, and social distancing; (2) COVID-19-related stressors - non-chronic illness, financial losses, and unavailability of goods or services; (3) sociodemographic indicators - age, gender, and income. Data analysis included hierarchical multiple regression, one-sample t-test, and analysis of variance.

Results

Surprisingly, the existential well-being of Moscow citizens during the research period was moderate. Each of the three groups of factors predicted a similar proportion of the variance of well-being (3-3,9%). The strongest predictors of well-being were long-term mental health status and financial stability. The effect of COVID-19-related stressors was most pronounced when they co-occur.

Conclusion

The negative association between lockdown-related stressors and poor well-being is not universal. It is necessary to study the effect of COVID-19-related stressors in combination with individual living conditions and region-specific factors and to focus on the prevention of the occurrence of stressors.

Pre-pandemic Psychobiological Features Predict Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Loneliness

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to various government-imposed limitations on social interaction and strict home confinement. Such involuntary social-distancing policies can exacerbate feelings of loneliness and alter emotional well-being. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is a potential mechanism for loneliness' deleterious health effects. In this study, we explored whether pre-pandemic diurnal cortisol output (AUC G ), a measure of HPA axis function, may predict the propensity to changes in loneliness during long-term COVID-19 home confinement and if extraversion would moderate this relationship. This association has been explored by analysing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and strict home confinement on social and emotional loneliness in 45 Spanish young adults. Diurnal cortisol levels were measured from five saliva samples obtained across a day just before the pandemic, and data about participants' perceived loneliness, empathic state, extraversion, and prospective volunteering were obtained both before and during the confinement. Participants' social and family loneliness increased during long-term strict home confinement, while prospective volunteering tendencies and extraversion decreased. Importantly, after adjusting for relevant confounders, moderation analyses revealed that in young adults with high pre-pandemic extraversion, a higher AUC G predicted a larger increase in social loneliness during confinement, while in individuals with low extraversion, AUC G was negatively related to change in loneliness. Our findings highlight the utility of pre-pandemic diurnal cortisol output in predicting the social impact of COVID-19 home confinement, presenting this hormone as a potential biomarker for a priori identification of at-risk groups during public health crises.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccination from The Perspective of University Students: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices

Aim: Our aim was to find out the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of university students regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to evaluate their vaccination status and the students' approaches to COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: Our cross-sectional study was carried out in the province of Tokat between 01 December 2021 and 31 December 2021. The sample of the research consists of Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University students. The students were reached by sending an online survey to their corporate e-mails. The survey form consists of socio-demographic data and parts regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 and vaccines. Results: Our study included 1053 participants. The mean age of the participants was 22.1±5.2, and 56.2% were female. The rate of having COVID-19 among the participants was 27.8%. Of the students, 94.5% were vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccines. The average correct response rate of the participants about the disease was 79.1±15.2%. Although the high rate of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of protective attitudes, it was seen that the rate of wearing a mask was 70.2% and just 49.9% of participants always avoid crowded areas. Conclusion: The approaches of young people, who can be the source of transmission, regarding COVID-19 disease and vaccines are extremely effective in controlling the pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19, vaccines, knowledge, attitude, students

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, a large body of research has identified a negative impact on individuals' affectivity, frequently documented by increased prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms. For children, this research was less extensive, was mainly based on caregivers' reports and neglected personality assessment. In order to measure the impact of the pandemic, and the fears it caused, on primary school children's affect and personality, 323 (180 boys and 143 girls) Italian third, fourth and fifth graders were assessed between October and November 2020, namely during the second wave of COVID-19 infections in Italy, with validated self-reports of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children, PANAS-C), fear of COVID-19 (Fear of COVID-19 Scale, FCV-19S) and personality (junior Temperament and Character Inventory, jTCI). In comparison with PANAS-C and jTCI normative scores collected prior to the pandemic, data obtained from children in 2020 showed unchanged affect scores in the overall sample, a decrease of Positive Affect in girls, and a decrease in the Harm Avoidance and an increase in the Self-Transcendence scales of personality. Fear of COVID-19 scores were positively correlated with Negative Affect scores and negatively predicted by children's personality profile of resilience (calculated using scores on the Harm Avoidance and the Self-Directedness scales of personality). These results suggested that Italian primary school children, especially boys, maintained their pre-pandemic levels of affect (or restored them after the first COVID-19 wave) and partially diverged from the typical development of personality in an apparently positive sense, namely toward more courageous/optimistic and spiritual profiles. This sort of children's post-traumatic growth might also be attributed to children's family and education systems, which should continue to be supported to promote and maintain community mental health.

No party no joy?-Changes in university students' extraversion, neuroticism, and subjective well-being during two COVID-19 lockdowns

The COVID-19 lockdowns represent a major life event with an immense impact on university students' lives. Findings prior to the pandemic suggest that changes in personality and subjective well-being (SWB) can occur after critical life events or psychological interventions. The present study examined how university students' extraversion, neuroticism, and SWB changed during two COVID-19 lockdowns in Germany. To this end, we conducted a partly preregistered, two-cohort study with four measurement points each from October 2019 to May 2021 (N_{Study 1}  = 81-148, N_{Study 2}  = 82-97). We used both multilevel contrast analyses and multi-group random-intercept cross-lagged panel models to examine within-person changes over time. Levels of life satisfaction, extraversion, and, unexpectedly, neuroticism were lower during both lockdowns. Students' affect improved during the first but deteriorated during the second lockdown, suggesting that similar experiences with the deceleration of daily life were associated with different affective outcomes during the two lockdown periods. Following the introduction or termination of a lockdown, changes in extraversion (neuroticism) were consistently positively (negatively) associated with changes in SWB. Our results stress the importance of disentangling between- and within-person processes and using pre-COVID baseline levels to examine changes in personality and SWB.

Cultural Management of Terror and Worry During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Religiosity and a Dream of Human Solidarity Help the Polish People Cope

The COVID-19 pandemic, which involves the threat of contracting a potentially fatal disease, can be understood as a source of terror. According to terror management theory, people shield themselves from terror by adopting culturally specific worldviews and protecting self-esteem. The study investigates the protective role of worldviews that are culturally specific to Poles: religiosity and social solidarity. The hypothesis was that Poles who tend to worry, entertain these worldviews and are more likely to maintain high self-esteem and concentrate on the current moment (carpe diem), which theoretically allows them to reduce future-related anxiety. Path analysis confirmed that self-esteem, the centrality of religiosity, and expectation of solidarity due to the COVID-19 pandemic mediate the relationship between the worry trait and carpe diem.

University Teacher Students’ Learning in Times of COVID-19

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, school and university learning were abruptly switched to distance learning, coming along with psychological strains and various learning lags on the part of the students. These problems come to a head when focusing on university teacher students, since an expectable competence lag on their part, similarly arising from pandemic-caused distance learning in university teacher training, could affect their future teaching in schools, possibly then disadvantaging school students a second time. To determine changes of teacher students’ self-concept of professional knowledge, we used data of a repeated cross-sectional survey carried out in a period from 2018 to 2021, including several comparable cohorts of overall N = 395 teacher students. This design allowed for splitting the participants in two groups relating to times before and after switching to distance learning. Our results show that the switch to distance learning goes hand in hand with lower scores on almost every dimension of teacher students’ self-concept of professional knowledge, although, in parallel, their scores on variables such as openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness increased significantly, indicating a certain degree of compliance with the new situation. Beyond that, we report on an evaluative survey among N = 84 teacher students carried out in July 2020, offering further insights into their situation during the first semester of distance learning. Its results primarily show which specific aspects of distance learning the students consider in need of improvement. On the other hand, it becomes clear that they experienced handicaps in various areas, accompanied by a significant decrease of their core self-evaluations when comparing them to a reference sample. Practical implications and recommendations that can be derived from these results are discussed.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Personality: Agreeable People Are More Stressed by the Feeling of Missing

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to contain it have substantial consequences for many people, resulting in negative effects on individual well-being and mental health. In the current study, we examined whether individual changes in perceived stress relative to pre-pandemic levels depended on differences in behavior, appraisal, and experience of pandemic-related constraints. In addition, we tested whether this potential relationship was moderated by personality traits. We conducted an online survey during the end of the first lockdown in Germany in spring 2020, and assessed pandemic-related individual consequences as well as perceived stress. These data were related to the big five personality traits and to ratings of perceived stress obtained from the same participants in a study conducted before the outbreak of the pandemic, using the same standardized stress questionnaires. There was no overall increase, but a large interindividual variety in perceived stress relative to pre-pandemic levels. Increased stress was associated especially with strong feelings of missing. This relationship was moderated by agreeableness, with more agreeable people showing a higher association of the feeling of missing and the increase of perceived stress. In addition, openness and conscientiousness were positively correlated with an increase in stress. The results highlight the importance of considering personality and individual appraisals when examining the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress and well-being.

"Touch Me If You Can!": Individual Differences in Disease Avoidance and Social Touch

The threat of diseases varies considerably among individuals, and it has been found to be linked to various proactive or reactive behaviors. In the present studies, we investigated the impact of individual differences in the perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD) on social touch before (Study 1) or during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (Study 2). We also investigated the influence of personality traits in the covariation between these two dimensions. We found that people who are the most disease-avoidant are also the most reluctant to touching or being touched by others (and this relationship holds when personality traits are taken into account). Interestingly, the association between PVD and social touch increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with a few months before. By showing that the fear of contamination has an association with social touch, the findings provide further evidence for the behavioral immune system ( Schaller and Park, 2011), a psychological system acting as a first line of defense against pathogens.

Emotional and Behavioral Responses to COVID-19

Abstract. This review appraises evidence for the role of personality in COVID-19 related emotions and behaviors. Three key models of personality are considered: the Five-factor Model, HEXACO model, and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST). In line with personality research, more generally, most studies focus on the Five-Factor model. Key findings are that neuroticism is most associated with poor mental health, and extraversion is associated with a reluctance to socially isolate. Conscientiousness predicts compliance with safety guidelines but also with fewer prosocial behaviors, particularly stockpiling. Research within the HEXACO framework largely confirms these findings, especially for emotionality and mental health. The additional HEXACO Honesty-Humility factor is found to be associated with prosocial views and abstention from panic buying. Studies based on the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of personality indicate emotional conflict as people wish to stay safe while maintaining a sense of normality. Behavioral compliance is driven by activation in the Fight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS; fear-related) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS; anxiety-related). The Behavioral Approach System (BAS) is implicated in approach-driven behaviors such as avoiding infection. These findings have implications for health communications and post-pandemic support.

Values and COVID-19 worries: The importance of emotional stability traits

We examined the relationship between emotional stability as a more stable personality trait and COVID-related worries with basic human values in a Brazilian sample (N = 578) that is strongly affected by COVID-19. We tested whether emotional stability would moderate the effect of infection and economic worries on personal values. In line with predictions, we found that infection worries were more strongly related to Security values, especially among individuals with less emotional stability, whereas economic worries were more strongly correlated with Power values, in particular among individuals with less emotional stability. Findings for Achievement values suggested perceived behavioral control effects for individuals high in Emotional Stability. Our findings provide insights into possible longer-term psychological effects of the current pandemic. Emotional dynamics in connection with worries created by the pandemic could influence values of importance for societal functioning in the short to medium term.

Sense of purpose in life, cognitive function, and the phenomenology of autobiographical memory

There are individual differences in the phenomenological re-experiencing of autobiographical memories. We examine whether sense of purpose in life and cognitive function are associated with the phenomenology of a recent memory related to the coronavirus pandemic. Participants reported on their sense purpose and completed tasks that measured processing speed and visuospatial ability before the pandemic in January-February 2020 and subsequently retrieved and rated a memory related to the pandemic in July 2020 (N=796; M_age=58.05, SD=14.14, range 19-85). Participants with a greater sense of purpose reported memories that were more phenomenologically rich (e.g., more vivid, coherent, accessible), whereas cognitive function was primarily related to greater perceived accessibility of the memory but not to most other aspects of phenomenology. The pattern of associations was similar when accounting for depressive symptoms, and none of the associations was moderated by age. The present research suggests that individuals with a higher sense of purpose in life have autobiographical memories with richer phenomenology. To the extent that memories function to sustain well-being, social connections, and cognitive health, rich phenomenology may be one pathway through which purpose leads to these better outcomes.

Mental Health and Personality Traits during COVID-19 in China: A Latent Profile Analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems have increased and are likely to be influenced by personality traits. The present study investigated the association between personality traits and mental health problems (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) symptoms, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms) through the person-centered approach because this has some advantages over the variable-centered approach. The data were collected from a sample of 765 Chinese citizens who participated in an online survey in October 2020. Latent profile analysis identified three latent personality profiles-highly adaptive, adaptive, and maladaptive. Highly adaptive individuals had higher extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and lower neuroticism, while maladaptive individuals had lower extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and higher neuroticism. Multivariate analysis of variance results showed that individuals with highly adaptive profiles had lower anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms compared to individuals with adaptive and maladaptive profiles. The findings of the present study indicate mental health professionals would benefit from formulated intervention plans given the association between latent personality profiles and mental health problems.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review

Infectious diseases and human behavior are intertwined. On one side, our movements and interactions are the engines of transmission. On the other, the unfolding of viruses might induce changes to our daily activities. While intuitive, our understanding of such feedback loop is still limited. Before COVID-19 the literature on the subject was mainly theoretical and largely missed validation. The main issue was the lack of empirical data capturing behavioral change induced by diseases. Things have dramatically changed in 2020. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been the key weapon against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and affected virtually any societal process. Travel bans, events cancellation, social distancing, curfews, and lockdowns have become unfortunately very familiar. The scale of the emergency, the ease of survey as well as crowdsourcing deployment guaranteed by the latest technology, several Data for Good programs developed by tech giants, major mobile phone providers, and other companies have allowed unprecedented access to data describing behavioral changes induced by the pandemic. Here, I review some of the vast literature written on the subject of NPIs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, I analyze 348 articles written by more than 2518 authors in the first 12 months of the emergency. While the large majority of the sample was obtained by querying PubMed, it includes also a hand-curated list. Considering the focus, and methodology I have classified the sample into seven main categories: epidemic models, surveys, comments/perspectives, papers aiming to quantify the effects of NPIs, reviews, articles using data proxies to measure NPIs, and publicly available datasets describing NPIs. I summarize the methodology, data used, findings of the articles in each category and provide an outlook highlighting future challenges as well as opportunities.

Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Perceived Behavioral Control, Attitudes, and Subjective Norm

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and potentially fatal infectious disease that has swept the globe. To reduce the spread, it is important to engage in preventive behaviors recommended by health authorities, such as washing your hands, wearing a face mask, and social distancing. Aim: In the present study, we draw from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine the associations between perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and subjective norm and whether people engage in eight different preventive behaviors. Methods: For each of the preventive behaviors (washing hands; using hand sanitizer; not touching your face; social distancing; wearing a face mask; disinfecting surfaces; coughing in your elbow; staying home if sick), we conducted separate logistic regressions predicting whether the participants (N = 2,256; age range = 1898 years) reported engaging in the behavior from their perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and subjective norm. Results: We found that perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and subjective norm had independent significant associations with each preventive behavior. Moderation analyses revealed that for most behaviors the associations with perceived behavioral control were stronger for older adults than for younger adults. Limitation: The present study was cross-sectional; future longitudinal studies and interventions are needed to disentangle directionality. Conclusion: Our findings suggest several ways to increase adherence to health behaviors that reduce the spread of coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

Does personality predict responses to the COVID-19 crisis? Evidence from a prospective large-scale study

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted people’s daily routines and infused their lives with considerable insecurity and uncertainty. However, individuals’ responses to the pandemic vary widely. The present study investigates the role of personality traits for key aspects of people’s responses to the COVID-19 crisis. In a prospective design using a large-scale panel study ( N = 2217) that represents the heterogeneity of the adult population in Germany, we examined whether Big Five domains and facets measured prior to the pandemic predicted individuals’ responses to the pandemic in terms of: (a) perceptions of infection risks; (b) behavioral changes to prevent infection; (c) beliefs in the effectiveness of policy measures to combat the further spread of coronavirus; and (d) trust in relevant policymakers and institutions regarding the handling of coronavirus. Results revealed that personality explained only a small portion (between 0.6% and 3.8%) of the variance in the four outcomes. Nonetheless, several Big Five domains and facets had at least small-to-moderate, and theoretically plausible, associations with the outcomes. Overall, Agreeableness and its Trust facet showed the most robust associations with the four outcomes. Most trait–outcome associations were also robust to controlling for three possible confounders (sex, age, and risk-group membership).

The situation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A snapshot in Germany

During government-implemented restrictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people's everyday lives changed profoundly. However, there is to date little research chronicling how people perceived their changed everyday lives and which consequences this had. In a two-wave study, we examined the psychological characteristics of people's situations and their correlates during shutdown in a large German sample (NT1 = 1,353; NT2 = 446). First, we compared characteristics during government-issued restrictions with retrospective accounts from before and with a follow-up assessment 6 to 7 months later when many restrictions had been lifted. We found that mean levels were lower and variances were higher for most characteristics during the shutdown. Second, the experience of certain situation characteristics was associated in meaningful and theoretically expected ways with people's traits, appraisals of the COVID-19 crisis, and subjective well-being. Lastly, situation characteristics often substantially explained the associations of traits with appraisals and well-being. Our findings highlight the importance of considering perceived situations as these contribute to people's functioning during crises.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 among university students in Japan and associated factors: An online cross-sectional survey

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly altered peoples’ daily lives, and it continues spreading as a crucial concern globally. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 are related to individuals’ adherence to government measures. This study evaluated KAP toward COVID-19 among university students in Japan between May 22 and July 16, 2020, via an online questionnaire, and it further investigated the associated determining KAP factors. Among the eligible respondents (n = 362), 52.8% were female, 79.0% were undergraduate students, 32.9% were students whose major university subjects were biology-related, 35.4% were from the capital region, and 83.7% were Japanese. The overall KAP of university students in Japan was high. All respondents (100%) showed they possessed knowledge on avoiding enclosed spaces, crowded areas, and close situations. Most respondents showed a moderate or higher frequency of washing their hands or wearing masks (both at 96.4%). In addition, 68.5% of respondents showed a positive attitude toward early drug administration. In the logistic regressions, gender, major subjects, education level, nationality, residence, and psychological factors (private self-consciousness and extroversion) were associated with knowledge or attitudes toward COVD-19 (p < 0.05). In the logistic and multiple linear regressions, capital regions, high basic knowledge, high information acquisition, correct information explanations contributed positively to preventative action (p < 0.05). Non-capital regions, male gender, non-bio-backgrounds, high public self-consciousness, high advanced knowledge, incorrect information explanations, and high extroversion contributed negatively to self-restraint (p < 0.05). Moreover, self-restraint was decreasing over time. These findings clarify the Japanese university students’ KAP and the related factors in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they may help university managers, experts, and policymakers control the future spread of COVID-19 and other emerging infections.

The role of personality in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of students in Germany during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

We examined how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of 6,957 students from Germany, assessed between March 16 and April 21, 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious health concern in Germany, varied by personality. The Big Five personality traits-openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability-were assessed with the International Personality Item Pool. Students were asked whether they kept up with the COVID-19 news, followed specific governmental rules and recommendations (washing hands more, using public transport less, avoiding larger crowds, and restricting meetings with family/friends), hoarded supplies, felt less secure in public places, or expected financial losses due to the crisis. Logistic regressions adjusted for sociodemographic factors and cognitive abilities revealed that more conscientious (odds ratio (OR) = 1.133) and more agreeable (OR = 1.285) students kept up with the news more. More agreeable students were also more likely to wash their hands more often/intensively (OR = 1.262), use public transport less (OR = 1.182), avoid crowds (OR = 1.320), and restrict meetings with family/friends (OR = 1.410). Other Big Five traits were not associated with these behaviors, except that less emotionally stable individuals tended to use public transport less often (OR = 1.162). Additionally, less emotionally stable students, in particular, more often bought more supplies than usual (OR = 1.322), felt insecure in public spaces (OR = 1.597), and expected financial losses (OR = 1.270). Moreover, less open (OR = 0.876) and more conscientious (OR = 1.235) students more often felt insecure in public spaces, and more extraverted individuals more often expected financial losses (OR = 1.180). Taken together, our findings suggest that more agreeable individuals, in particular, tend to comply with governmental rules and recommendations to fight COVID-19, whereas less emotionally stable individuals, in particular, tend to hoard supplies, feel insecure, and fear financial losses due to the crisis.

Psychological and Behavioural Responses to Coronavirus Disease 2019: The Role of Personality

This study examined the associations between personality traits and psychological and behavioural responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Personality was assessed in January/February 2020 when the public was not aware of the spread of coronavirus in the USA. Participants were reassessed in late March 2020 with four sets of questions about the pandemic: concerns, precautions, preparatory behaviours, and duration estimates. The sample consisted of N = 2066 participants (mean age = 51.42; range = 18-98; 48.5% women). Regression models were used to analyse the data with age, gender, education, race, and ethnicity as covariates. Consistent with the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was related to more concerns and longer duration estimates related to COVID-19, higher extraversion was related to shorter duration estimates, and higher conscientiousness was associated with more precautions. In contrast to the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was associated with fewer precautions and unrelated to preparatory behaviours. Age moderated several trait-response associations, suggesting that some of the responses were associated more strongly in older adults, a group at risk for complications of COVID-19. For example, older adults high in conscientiousness prepared more. The present findings provide insights into how personality predicts concerns and behaviours related to the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology.