Has the pandemic changed our personalities?

Has the pandemic changed our personalities? New research suggests we’re less open, agreeable and conscientious!

           For many of us, some personality traits stay the same throughout our lives while others change gradually. However, some evidence shows that significant events in our personal lives which induce severe stress or trauma can be associated with more rapid changes in our personalities.

            A new study, published in PLOS ONE, suggests the COVID pandemic has indeed triggered much greater shifts in personality than we would expect to have seen naturally over this period. In particular, the researchers found that people were less extroverted, less open, less agreeable and less conscientious in 2021 and 2022 compared with before the pandemic.

          Study included more than 7,000 participants from the US, aged between 18 and 109, who were assessed before the pandemic (from 2014 onwards), early in the pandemic in 2020, and then later in the pandemic in 2021 or 2022. At each time point, participants completed the “Big Five Inventory”. This assessment tool measures personality on a scale across five dimensions.

          researchers found significant declines in extroversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness in 2021/2022 compared with before the pandemic. And the interesting fact is that younger adult's personality changes most.

Personality and well being:

         Many of us became more health-conscious during the pandemic, for example by eating better and doing more exercise. A lot of us sought whatever social connections we could find virtually, and tried to refocus our attention on psychological, emotional and intellectual growth

        If we look more closely, the pandemic appears to have negatively affected this  areas: -- our ability to express sympathy and kindness towards others (agreeableness); -- our capacity to be open to new concepts and willing to engage in novel situations (openness); -- our tendency to seek out and enjoy other people's company (extraversion); -- our desire to strive towards our goals, do tasks well or take responsibilities towards others seriously (conscientiousness).

         All of these traits influence our interaction with the environment around us, and as such, may have played a role in our wellbeing decline

So what's next:

•  participants in study recorded the changes in the opposite direction to the usual trajectory of personality change.
• This is understandable given that we faced an extended period of difficulties, including constraints on our freedoms, lost income and illness. All these experiences have evidently changed us – and our personalities.
•  It might be like.... to take the time to reflect on your experiences over the past few years, and how these personality changes may have affected you. 
• Any changes may well have protected you during the height of the pandemic.
• However, it's worth asking yourself how useful these changes are now that the acute phase of the pandemic is behind us. Do they still serve you well, or could you try to rethink your perspective?