Relationship Between Personality Dimensions and Psychological Well-Being Among University Students During Pandemic Lockdown

Personality Disorders in Time of Pandemic

“…Moreover, negative affectivity was associated with high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress [ 28 ••]. Coherently, neuroticism, which is the adaptive corresponding trait of negative affectivity, was linked to reduced psychological well-being [ 47 ], more concerns, and longer pandemic duration estimates [ 33 ].…”

“…This expectation is in line with a recent study [ 57 ] showing that cyclothymic temperament, which is best expressed by cluster B patients [ 58 ], was related to greater psychological distress during the coronavirus outbreak. Researchers have found evidence that conscientiousness was related to higher psychological well-being [ 47 ], less pandemic duration estimates, less concerns in general, and more concerns about community [ 33 ]. Since conscientiousness is opposed to traits of disinhibition which, according to the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD; [ 5 ]), are distinctive of borderline patients, we may hypothesize that such patients may experience less psychological well-being during the outbreak, estimate longer pandemic duration, and do not care about community.…”

“…Some studies on the effect of adaptive personality traits on psychological reactions to pandemics, however, do not confirm such associations. In fact, extroversion (which is opposed to detachment) was found to be linked to less psychological well-being [ 47 ] and greater concerns [ 33 ] during pandemics.…”

“…In this sense, dependent patients may be at high risk to develop depressive symptoms and post-traumatic conditions if their significant others are affected by the disease, as well as to show post-traumatic conditions in case of serious medical conditions (e.g., conditions requesting hospitalization) or death of significant others. As discussed above, studies have demonstrated that negative affectivity is a risk factor for reduced emotional well-being [ 27 ••], depression, anxiety, and stress [ 28 ••], and neuroticism was related to less psychological well-being [ 47 ], more concerns, and longer duration estimates related to COVID-19 [ 33 ]. Besides anxiety and depression, evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the post-illness stage of previous coronavirus epidemics was reported [ 69 ].…”

“…In a sense, such attributes might protect narcissists from experiencing psychological distress during pandemics. Gupta and Parimal [47], however, have recently found that traits of agreeableness relate to greater psychological well-being during pandemics. Since both narcissistic and antisocial patients, according to the AMPD [5], share high traits of antagonism (which is opposed to agreeableness), they might show poor psychological well-being during pandemics.…”