Big Five predictors of pandemic-related behavior and emotions in the first and second COVID-19 pandemic wave in Slovakia

Michal Kohút; Veronika Kohútová; Peter Halama

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110934

Big Five predictors of pandemic-related behavior and emotions in the first and second COVID-19 pandemic wave in Slovakia

Pers Individ Dif. 2021 Oct:180:110934. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110934. Epub 2021 Apr 18.

Authors

Michal Kohút¹, Veronika Kohútová¹, Peter Halama¹

Affiliation

¹ Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of Trnava, Hornopotočná 23, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia.

Abstract

This study explores the effect of Big Five personality traits on behavioral and emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Personality traits of 248 Slovak persons were assessed twice before the pandemic using the Big Five Inventory 2. Behavioral and emotional responses to the pandemic were collected during the first and second pandemic wave (April and September 2020). The results showed a statistically significant decrease in all response domains and in COVID-19 fear between the first and the second pandemic wave, suggesting that psychological adaptation to the pandemic occurred during the interim period. The results identified several meaningful links between the traits and pandemic-related behavior and emotions, especially for neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. However, the effects of personality were higher for the first pandemic wave, suggesting that these effects vary across time probably because of changes in pandemic perception in the society.

Keywords: Big Five; COVID-19; Pandemic; Personality.