COVID-19 avoidance behavior: The significance of personality and the relation with increases in working from home

The COVID-19 pandemic can be understood as a situation that triggers a specific form of trait activation;that is, one in which personality can influence the chance of becoming infected. This research examines the relations between HEXACO personality and COVID-19 avoidance behaviors, which is operationalized in terms of the threat that people experience and the extent to which they comply with the COVID-19 rules of conduct. In addition, the study examines the extent to which COVID-19 avoidance behaviors relate to an increase in working from home. In a stratified Dutch sample of 932 adults (of which N = 526 were employed) in September 2020, we found that - in addition to age - high emotionality and conscientiousness and low extraversion were the main unique personality predictors of COVID-19 avoidance behaviors. A selection of six facets (fearfulness, sociability, diligence, inquisitiveness, unconventionality, and proactivity) predicted COVID-19 avoidance behaviors better than the HEXACO domain scales. The main predictors of an increase in working from home were having an office job and a high level of education. The study shows that individual differences play an important role in how people deal with the pandemic, and that differences in education and type of job were most important for the extent to which people started working from home.

Personality in a naturally occurring strong situation: Unique effects of HEXACO traits on COVID-19 mitigation.

The first Italian lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic constituted an example of strong situation. Under this context, we investigated associations of HEXACO personality with COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (self-reported hygiene, distancing, going out). We tested unique associations through regularized regressions and out-of-sample prediction after establishing the best level of analysis (HEXACO traits, facets, items). Personality always explained out-of-sample variance over and above demographics, COVID-related knowledge, concern, impacts, and goals. Hygiene and distancing were best predicted by HEXACO traits, whereas facets constituted the best level for the prediction of going out. In general, honesty-humility (trait or facets) was the clearest predictor of safer behaviors. Results corroborate the relevance of personality even in strong situations, as well as its importance for COVID-19 mitigation.

Sensitive attitudes and adherence to recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparing direct and indirect questioning techniques.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, various behavioral measures were imposed to curb the spread of the virus. In a preregistered study based on a quota-representative sample of adult Danish citizens (N = 1031), we compared the prevalence estimates of self-reported handwashing, physical distancing, and attitudes toward the behavioral measures between people surveyed with a direct and an indirect questioning approach (i.e., the crosswise model). Moreover, we investigated two possible predictors of sensitive behaviors and attitudes, namely empathy for people vulnerable to the virus and Honesty-Humility from the HEXACO Model of Personality. We also examined the interaction of both predictors with the questioning format. Survey participants reported more violation of guidelines regarding handwashing and physical distancing when asked indirectly rather than directly, whereas attitudes regarding the behavioral measures did not differ between the two questioning formats. Respondents with less empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19 reported more violations of handwashing and physical-distancing, and those low on Honesty-Humility reported more violations of physical distancing.

Emotional and behavioral responses to COVID-19: Explanations from three key models of personality

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Aversive Personality and COVID-19 A First Review and Meta-Analysis

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has strongly affected individuals and societies worldwide. In this review and meta-analysis, we investigated how aversive personality traits - that is, relatively stable antisocial personality characteristics - related to how individuals perceived, evaluated, and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 34 studies with overall 26,780 participants, we found that people with higher scores in aversive personality traits were less likely to perceive guidelines and restrictions to curb the spread of the virus as protective ((p)over dot = -.11), to engage in health behaviors related to COVID-19 ((p)over dot = -.16), and to engage in non-health-related prosocial behavior related to COVID-19 ((p)over dot = -.14). We found no consistent relation between aversive personality and negative effect regarding the pandemic. The results thus indicate the importance of aversive personality traits in understanding individual differences with regard to COVID-19.

Personal determinants of the pandemic perceptions and related experiences in non-COVID-19 residents of Russia

In order to study the contribution of personality traits in particular ideas about the COVID-19 pandemic and experiences in the current pandemic, an online study was conducted among the Russian population (N=582) in April-May 2020. The methodological complex included the author's socio-demographic questionnaire (Pervichko, et al., 2020);the State Anxiety Scale from the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Hanin, 1976;Spielberger et al., 1983;);the Russian-language version of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983;Ababkov et al., 2016);the Russian-language version of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Broadbent et al., 2006;Yaltonsky et al., 2017) modified for the purposes of studying the attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic (Pervichko et al., 2020) and the short version of the HEXACO-PI-R questionnaire (Ashton, Lee, 2007;Egorova, Parshikova, Mitina, 2019). The severity of the "emotionality" at the same time makes the most significant contribution to the ideas about the pandemic formation, as directly contributing to the appearance of a sense of threat from COVID-19 and fear of an unknown disease, and indirectly, through the formation of negative emotional states and the appearance of a psychological distress sense, which determines all the three components of the ideas about the COVID-19 pandemic: fear of an unknown disease, a sense of threat and the possibility of controlling the coronavirus. A significant latent variable was identified in the process of structural modeling - "social representations of COVID-19" - significantly affects all components of representations about COVID-19. Based on the presented data, in aggregate, it can be concluded that the initially theoretically constructed and verified model of ideas about COVID-19 determinations by personal traits has proved its validity. In conclusion, the article discusses the significance of these findings for the practice of psychological assistance, as well as identifies possible areas for further research.

COVID-19 Pandemic, Personality and Geriatric Population: Proposed Pragmatism.

The elderly population is a sensitive and delicate cohort of society who is being compelled to bear the significant smoulders of disruptive social behavior of humankind amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim for this review was (1) to find out the root of disruption of societal integrity and self-centeredness by analyzing the spokes of HEXACO; (2) to delineate their possible relationships with the formation of Neuroticism and eventually Psychopathy, which have endangered human civilization the most in this pandemic; and (3) to search for the potential ways to get rid of these dark times. The constellation of different negative human behaviors probably originate from the negative deflection of components of the HEXACO model of personality towards the genesis of the dark triad. COVID-19 pandemic and upsurge of the dark triad in the form of Neuroticism, Narcissism and Machiavellianism potentially portend major mental health threats. Cultivation and practice of positive emotions and triumph of honesty, humility and humanity are imperative to save the mankind from the savagery of this pandemic.

What drives us to be (ir)responsible for our health during the COVID-19 pandemic? The role of personality, thinking styles, and conspiracy mentality.

The study aimed to investigate the role of personality, thinking styles, and conspiracy mentality in health-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., recommended health behaviors according to COVID-19 guidelines and engagement in pseudoscientific practices related to COVID-19. Basic personality space was defined by the HEXACO model complemented by Disintegration, which represents psychotic-like experiences and behaviors reconceptualized as a personality trait. Mediation analyses conducted on a convenient sample from the general population recruited via social media and by snowballing (N = 417) showed that engagement in pseudoscientific behaviors was predicted by high Disintegration. However, this relationship was entirely mediated by high experiential and low rational thinking styles. Adherence to health practices recommended by COVID-19 guidelines was predicted by high Honesty traits, while low Disintegration had both direct and indirect effects through conspiracy mentality.

Stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic as a real-life social dilemma: A person-situation perspective.

Prior research using economic games has shown that personality drives cooperation in social dilemmas. In this study, we tested the generalizability of these findings in a real-life social dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely stockpiling in the presence of low versus high resource scarcity. Honesty-Humility was negatively related to stockpiling intentions and justifiability of stockpiling. Moreover, we found a positive albeit weaker effect of Emotionality on stockpiling intentions. Victim Sensitivity was mostly positively associated with stockpiling intentions. None of the personality traits interacted with resource scarcity to predict stockpiling. Our findings replicate established associations between personality and cooperation in a real-life social dilemma, and suggest that the characteristics of interdependent situations during a pandemic additionally afford the expression of Emotionality.

A person-centered approach in studying coronavirus pandemic response: The role of HEXACO-PI-R and PANAS dimensions.

The main aim of this study was to explore reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and their relationship with personality traits using a person-centered approach. Sample of 471 Serbian citizens was collected during the first 7 weeks of the pandemic. Cluster analysis revealed three clusters based on reactions to the pandemic: Adapted, Antagonized, and Passive. Adaptive type is characterized by stable emotional reactions and adherence to behavioral guidelines. Antagonized cluster is characterized by lowered adherence to behavioral guidelines, while Passive cluster is characterized by increased fear and boredom. Clusters differed significantly on HEXACO and PANAS traits. Similarity of obtained clusters with prototypes that commonly emerge using personality traits for classification, stresses the importance of basic individual differences in pandemic-induced behavior.

The influence of demographics and personality on COVID-19 coping in young adults.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on human behavior and well-being. Demographic factors and personality traits have been shown to independently influence whether individuals adopt adaptive or maladaptive coping responses. However, to date, researchers have not considered how demographics and personality could interact to influence COVID-19 coping responses. In a sample of 516 North American young adults, we found direct links from two demographic factors (i.e., income and having children) and from multiple personality traits (as captured by the HEXACO model) to adaptive and maladaptive COVID-19 coping responses. We also found that personality indirectly linked a broader range of demographic factors (income, age, gender, having children) with COVID-19 coping responses. We encourage future research on COVID-19 coping responses to consider not just the individual contributions of demographics and personality, but their interdependent influence on whether individuals adopt more or less adaptive COVID-19 pandemic coping responses.