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Big Five traits predict stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for the role of neuroticism

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  • Gözde Ikizer, TOBB University of Economics and Technology
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  • Marta Kowal, University of Wroclaw
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  • İlknur Dilekler Aldemir, TOBB University of Economics and Technology
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  • Alma Jeftić, International Christian University
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  • Aybegum Memisoglu-Sanli, Middle East Technical University
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  • Arooj Najmussaqib, National University of Modern Languages
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  • David Lacko, Masaryk University
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  • Kristina Eichel, Brown University
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  • Fidan Turk, University of Sheffield
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  • Stavroula Chrona, Queen's University Belfast
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  • Oli Ahmed, University of Chittagong
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  • Jesper Rasmussen
  • Raisa Kumaga, University of East London
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  • Muhammad Kamal Uddin, University of Dhaka
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  • Vicenta Reynoso-Alcántara, Universidad Veracruzana
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  • Daniel Pankowski, University of Finance and Management in Warsaw
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  • Tao Coll-Martín, University of Granada

The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected citizens' daily lives in an unprecedented way. To curb the spread of the pandemic, governments have taken numerous measures such as social distancing and quarantine, which may be associated with psychological consequences, namely stress and loneliness globally. To understand differential associations of personality traits with psychological consequences of COVID-19, we utilize data from a sample of 99,217 individuals from 41 countries collected as part of the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey. Data were analyzed using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel regression models. Findings showed that while some of the associations were rather weak, Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with perceived stress and loneliness during the pandemic. Our study illustrates that neuroticism especially can be a vulnerability factor for stress and loneliness in times of crisis and can contribute to detection of at-risk individuals and optimization of psychological treatments during or after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111531
JournalPersonality and Individual Differences
Volume190
Number of pages5
ISSN0191-8869
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022

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