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Predictors of Distress and Coping During Pandemic-Related Self Isolation: The Relative Importance of Personality Traits and Beliefs About Personal Threat

Authored by: Steven Taylor, Michelle M. Paluszek, Caeleigh A. Landry, Geoffrey S. Rachor, & Gordon J. G. Asmundson

Self-isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic has been easier for some people than others. One potential reason that certain people cope better with self-isolation could be differences in the beliefs people have about the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., getting COVID-19, financial consequences of the pandemic). Another potential reason could be differences in personality traits like extraversion (being sociable and outgoing), agreeableness (being warm and friendly), conscientiousness (being organized and reliable), negative emotionality (being more likely to experience negative emotions), openness (being curious and open to new experiences), optimism (being hopeful and confident in a positive future), and resilience (being able to cope with challenges). The authors of this study looked at whether beliefs about the dangerousness of the COVID-19 pandemic or personality traits had more of an impact on how people responded to self-isolation

During May 2020, American and Canadian adults who were voluntarily self-isolating because of the pandemic (i.e., staying at home as much as possible) completed an online survey. Survey questions measured personality traits and beliefs about the threats posed the COVID-19 pandemic. Both personality traits and beliefs about threat were related to how people responded to self-isolation. People who were more agreeable, conscientious, optimistic, and resilient, and who had less negative emotionality, felt less distressed during self-isolation. Also, the more dangerous people believed the COVID-19 pandemic was, the more distressed they felt during self-isolation. The relationship between beliefs about the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and distress during self-isolation was stronger than the relationship between any of the personality traits and distress during self-isolation.

Overall, the study results show that beliefs about the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic play a more important role than personality traits in how people respond to self-isolation. Based on these results, future researchers might look at strategies to change beliefs about the dangerousness of the COVID-19 pandemic to see if changing these beliefs reduces the distress that some people feel during self-isolation.

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