Big Five predictors of pandemic-related behavior and emotions in the first and second COVID-19 pandemic wave in Slovakia

Kohút, Michal; Kohútová, Veronika; Haľama, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110934

Cited by 29 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In our study, children's fear of COVID-19 was also assessed and, despite the paucity of other observations of this measure in children, the participants' average score seemed to be similar to that obtained by other studies during the second wave of COVID-19 (in Iranian girls) and lower than those obtained during the first wave (in Canadian children, Turkish children/adolescents and in Italian adults). A significant decrease from the first to the second wave in the fear of COVID-19 scores (assessed with the same scale used in our study) has been observed, for example, in adult Slovakians ( 34 ). This can be viewed as the result of the individual and institutional adaptation to the pandemic after the initial emergency response.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

et al. 2022

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In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, a large body of research has identified a negative impact on individuals' affectivity, frequently documented by increased prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms. For children, this research was less extensive, was mainly based on caregivers' reports and neglected personality assessment. In order to measure the impact of the pandemic, and the fears it caused, on primary school children's affect and personality, 323 (180 boys and 143 girls) Italian third, fourth and fifth graders were assessed between October and November 2020, namely during the second wave of COVID-19 infections in Italy, with validated self-reports of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children, PANAS-C), fear of COVID-19 (Fear of COVID-19 Scale, FCV-19S) and personality (junior Temperament and Character Inventory, jTCI). In comparison with PANAS-C and jTCI normative scores collected prior to the pandemic, data obtained from children in 2020 showed unchanged affect scores in the overall sample, a decrease of Positive Affect in girls, and a decrease in the Harm Avoidance and an increase in the Self-Transcendence scales of personality. Fear of COVID-19 scores were positively correlated with Negative Affect scores and negatively predicted by children's personality profile of resilience (calculated using scores on the Harm Avoidance and the Self-Directedness scales of personality). These results suggested that Italian primary school children, especially boys, maintained their pre-pandemic levels of affect (or restored them after the first COVID-19 wave) and partially diverged from the typical development of personality in an apparently positive sense, namely toward more courageous/optimistic and spiritual profiles. This sort of children's post-traumatic growth might also be attributed to children's family and education systems, which should continue to be supported to promote and maintain community mental health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

et al. 2022

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“…Therefore, there are likely other factors which were not measured here but which may play an important role in following the preventive measures, for example, conscientiousness, or trust in government (e.g. Kohút et al, 2021). When considering attitudes toward vaccination and the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (see Figure 2), the results were quite consistent with the model above albeit with several important differences.…”

Section: Science Understanding Epistemically Suspect Beliefs and Health Behaviors: Direct And Indirect Pathssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…However, this model explained 28 % of variance, therefore other factors besides analytic thinking play a role in adherence to preventive measures. For example, Kohút et al (2021) found out that agreeableness and conscientiousness correlated with active protection/following recommendations at the beginning of pandemics (but not later). Similarly, in previous research in Slovakia during the first wave of pandemic (Čavojová, Šrol, & Ballová Mikušková, 2020) people followed some recommendation regardless of their scientific reasoning, and in some cases, people with better scientific reasoning engaged more in behaviors such as stockpiling, and less in behaviors such as avoiding large crowds or immediately throwing away tissues into a bin after sneezing.…”

Section: Science Understanding and Non-normative Health Behavior: Comparing Direct And Indirect Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

With the little help of science understanding: Examining the direct and indirect role of scientific reasoning and trust in science in normative health behaviour during pandemic

Cavojova¹,

Šrol²,

Eb³

2021

Preprint

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This paper focuses on the science understanding (scientific reasoning and trust in science) and analytic thinking and their role in: 1) having less conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs about COVID-19, and 2) behavioral intentions in line with scientific consensus (i.e. following evidence-based guidelines and vaccination intentions). We examined these direct and indirect effect of science understanding on normative health behavior in a representative sample of Slovak population (N = 1024). The results showed more support for the indirect path: people who understand science better had generally less epistemically suspect beliefs and as a consequence, tended to behave more in line with evidence-based guidelines and were more likely to get vaccinated. Neither scientific reasoning nor trust in science predicted avoidance of preventive measures directly, but analytic thinking correlated positively with avoiding preventive measures. The strongest predictor of epistemically suspect beliefs was trust in science, which also directly predicted the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Thus, it seems that reasoning about which experts or sources to believe (second-order scientific reasoning) has become even more important than directly evaluating original evidence (first-order scientific reasoning).

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“…This temperament trait is characterized by excessive apprehension, caution, and pessimism [ 90 ], and is typically associated with stronger unconscious emotional reactions [ 91 ], pain perception [ 92 ] and subsequent anticipatory avoidance behaviour, especially of settings that may lead to infection [ 93 , 94 ]. This trait is also tightly related to the Big Five Inventory neuroticism factor [ 75 , 90 , 95 , 96 ], and high levels of neuroticism have been shown to reflect in higher compliance with COVID-19 restrictions [ 97 ]. In line with this evidence, the present findings showed that the heightened cautiousness and worrying embodied in the harm avoidance personality trait predicted a decreased likelihood of going out for a relatively unnecessary motive such as leisure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk perception and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: Predicting variables of compliance with lockdown measures

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to counteract it have highlighted the role of individual differences in evaluating and reacting to emergencies, and the challenges inherent in promoting precautionary behaviours. We aimed to explore the psychological and cognitive factors modulating behaviour and intentions during the national lockdown in Italy. We administered an online questionnaire (N = 244) that included tests for assessing personality traits (Temperament and Character Inventory; Locus of Control of Behaviour) and moral judgment (Moral Foundations Questionnaire), alongside behavioural economics tasks addressing different facets of risk attitude (loss aversion, risk aversion and delay discounting). We then assessed the extent to which individual variations in these dimensions modulated participants’ compliance with the lockdown norms. When assessing their joint contribution via multiple regressions, lockdown adherence was mostly predicted by internal locus of control, psycho-economic dimensions suggestive of long-sighted and loss-averse attitudes, as well as personality traits related to cautionary behaviour, such as harm avoidance, and the authority moral concern. These findings show that a multi-domain assessment of the factors underlying personal intentions, and thus driving compliance with government measures, can help predict individuals’ actions during health emergencies. This evidence points to factors that should be considered when developing interventions and communication strategies to promote precautionary behaviours.

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Big Five predictors of pandemic-related behavior and emotions in the first and second COVID-19 pandemic wave in Slovakia

Cited by 29 publications

References 33 publications

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Affect, Fear, and Personality of Primary School Children Measured During the Second Wave of Infections in 2020

With the little help of science understanding: Examining the direct and indirect role of scientific reasoning and trust in science in normative health behaviour during pandemic

Risk perception and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: Predicting variables of compliance with lockdown measures

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