Covid-19 changed a lot – how we socialized, where we went, and even what work looked like. A new study shows the pandemic may have changed our personalities as well.
Psychologists have long believed that a person’s traits stayed pretty much the same, even in the wake of stressful events.
But by looking at pre-pandemic levels of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness and comparing that to data collected in 2021 and 2022, researchers found notable personality changes among the United States population, according to the study.
“The pandemic was an unprecedented opportunity to see how a collective stressful event may impact personality,” said lead study author Angelina Sutin, a professor of medicine at Florida State University.
Extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness all declined in the US population in the years following the start of the pandemic, particularly in young adults, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.
I – Word Understanding
Neuroticism – a state of being emotionally unstable (anxiety, phobia, etc.)
Extraversion – a preference to being socially engaged with others
Conscientiousness – a quality of doing a task well and thoroughly
II – Have Your Say
1, How do you feel about the pandemic now?
2, What are the changes that you had to do during the pandemic?
What are the things that you wish would go back to “before” and what are those that you want to keep?
3, Having experienced this pandemic, what are your concerns / worries now? Do you think we are now well-equipped to survive another pandemic?
4, What are the lessons you’ve learned from this pandemic?
Has your personality changed?
909 People experienced some key personality changes during the pandemic, study finds
