Personality and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a health crisis eliciting a variety of stressors, leading to reductions in well-being worldwide. Personality traits are among the key factors determining how individuals respond to adversity and disasters. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between a wide range of personality characteristics and different indicators of psychological well-being in Turkish university undergraduates during the first lockdown of the pandemic. The data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey. Zero-order correlations in the analysis demonstrated higher resilience, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness related to higher well-being, whereas neuroticism and attachment anxiety were related to lower well-being. The results of the multivariate regression analysis with the personality characteristics within the study showed that resilience was consistently and strongly associated with better psychological well-being. Neuroticism was related positively to depression and anxiety symptoms and negative affect but unrelated to positive affect. High self-control was linked to a more positive affect and less negative affect. Our findings illustrated personality’s potential adaptive and maladaptive effects on reported mental health during the pandemic. The findings are discussed to shed light on future studies regarding the connection between personality traits and life events.