The covid-19 pandemic has caused millions of people around the world a disruption to daily life without comparable precedents in recent history. Such an event, in which there is a threat to one’s own safety and in which aspects such as freedom of movement are limited, it leaves its mark on the population.
In fact, scientists are already trying to better understand the extent of those footprints. In this direction, a large-scale study published in the academic environment PLOS One has delved into the changes that the pandemic has caused in our personality, using a representative sample of the entire United States. Specifically, he points out that the changes have been more pronounced in young people, who now show a greater neuroticism than before the pandemic.
The personality in five traits
The work in question adopts the model of the personality of five factors, a psychological theory that describes personality based on the presence of five general traits. These traits are extroversion (a tendency for assertive, energetic, and relationship-seeking behaviors), neuroticism (a tendency for persistent pessimism and anxiety), conscientiousness (a tendency for organization, self-discipline, and hard work). ), likability (the tendency to be empathic, kind, and trustworthy), and openness (the tendency to be curious and imaginative).
Based on this premise, it is considered that these traits remain more or less stable during adult life, regardless of personal experience; in any case, its evolution is gradual and limited. The exception would be traumatic events, which have been shown to trigger significant changes in the adult’s personality.
On the contrary, during youth these parameters show much more variation, up to its consolidation in the youth.
Neuroticism fell… and rose again
Thus, the researchers identified that, globally, neuroticism descendedcuriously, during the acute phase of the pandemic in 2020. However, this value normalized in the subsequent adaptation phase, between 2021 and 2022.
The other traits remained stable during the acute phase, say these authors, and instead decreased during the adaptation phase.
At a general level, they emphasize that the changes observed in the population are comparable to those observed, under normal circumstances, in a decade of adult life. Even so, they warn that it will be necessary to investigate the matter later to verify if it is about permanent or transitory changes.
Differences between young and old
Analysis by demographic groups, however, reveals some differences that are otherwise hidden. The most notable seems to be the one between the people of different ages.
For example, the decreased neuroticism during the acute phase of the pandemic it is very pronounced in those over 65 years of age and much less significant in those under 30. Similarly, the subsequent increase is stronger in young people, in whom it reaches values higher than those prior to the pandemic .
In the same way, while the rest of the traits were located after the adaptation phase in the pre-pandemic values for older people, in the younger demographic there is a significant decline, especially in agreeableness and conscientiousness.
These differences can be explained in several ways. On the one hand, the fact that during youth these values naturally evolve more can be related to the apparent greater vulnerability of young people to the pandemic; on the other, the stressors derived from the pandemic (economic/labor instability, limitation of freedom of movement…) can have affected to different degrees to the different age groups.
Be that as it may, the changes are small in any case, but the authors believe that if they are shown to be persistent they could have an effect. considerable cumulative.
References
Angelina R. Sutin, Yannick Stephan, Martina Luchetti, Damaris Aschwanden, Ji Hyun Lee, Amanda A. Sesker, Antonio Terraciano. Differential personality change earlier and laterin the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States. PLOS One (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274542