How COVID has changed our very personalities

I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the past three years or so I’ve said something like, “What happened to people?

Now we know.

In a new study published in the journal PLOS A, psychologists have seen population-wide personality changes as a result of the pandemic. Using a widely accepted model for studying personality known as the Big Five Inventory, they measured five different dimensions of personality: neuroticism (stress), extraversion (connecting with others), openness ( creative thinking), agreeableness (trusting) and conscientiousness (being organized, disciplined and responsible).

For the most part, major personality traits remain relatively stable throughout life, apart from changes associated with early adulthood or when particularly stressful personal events occur. The researchers were curious to see if they would find any personality changes during the second and third years of the pandemic.

“And we did. There was a completely different model shift,” says study author Angelina Sutin, assistant professor of behavioral science and social medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine.

As the pandemic progressed, researchers discovered

“a significant decline in traits that help us navigate social situations, trust others, think creatively, and act responsibly. These changes were especially pronounced in young adults.

“Sutin hypothesizes that personality traits may have changed as public sentiment about the pandemic changed. ‘The first year [of the pandemic] there was this real rapprochement,” says Sutin. “But in the second year, with all that support gone, and then the open hostility and social upheaval around the restrictions…all the collective goodwill we had, we lost it, and that could have been very important for the personality.” ”

What is normal and healthy in development or maturation is that stress (neuroticism) decreases and dynamics such as connection with others, creative thinking, confidence and organization, discipline and responsibility increases.

The opposite happened on all five fronts. Stress increased and extroversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness all decreased of the entire American population.

To be clear, while the COVID crisis may have been the driving force behind this personality shift, many other factors may also have contributed, including the shift to virtual school and work, economic challenges, political divides and race-related issues. .

It’s unclear at this time if this is a true long-term personality change or a “short-term shock.” Hope and pray for the “short term shock”. But at least we know one thing for sure:

something really did happen to people.

James Emery White

Sources

Angelina R. Sutin, Yannick Stephan, et al., “Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States“, PLOS ASeptember 28, 2022, read online.

Maggie Mertens, “Personalities don’t usually change quickly, but they may have done so during the pandemic”, NPROctober 5, 2022, read online.

About the Author

James Emery White is the founder and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His last book After “I believe” is now available on Amazon or at your favorite bookstore. To take advantage of a free Church & Culture blog subscription, visit churchandculture.org, where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture podcast. . Follow Dr. White on TwitterFacebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.

James Emery White is the founder and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president.

His latest book, After “I believe”, is now available on Amazon or at your favorite bookstore. To take advantage of a free Church & Culture blog subscription, visit churchandculture.org, where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture podcast. .

Follow Dr. White on TwitterFacebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.