Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists are theorizing that, as compared to introverts, extraverts experience more profound negative social consequences from protective measures (e.g., travel restrictions and bans on public gatherings). As the empirical evidence for this claim is lack...

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Main Authors: Indy Wijngaards, Sophie C. M. Sisouw de Zilwa, Martijn J. Burger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568907/full
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spelling doaj-e85655ff0c2d4772a2e5ed39cd9862cb2020-11-25T03:39:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-10-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.568907568907Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive SymptomsIndy Wijngaards0Indy Wijngaards1Sophie C. M. Sisouw de Zilwa2Martijn J. Burger3Martijn J. Burger4Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NetherlandsErasmus School of Health and Policy Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NetherlandsErasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NetherlandsErasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NetherlandsErasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NetherlandsFrom the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists are theorizing that, as compared to introverts, extraverts experience more profound negative social consequences from protective measures (e.g., travel restrictions and bans on public gatherings). As the empirical evidence for this claim is lacking, this study tested the hypothesis that extraversion moderates the relationship between the stringency of COVID-19 protective measures and depressive symptoms. Our results were based on survey data from 93,125 respondents collected in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 20–April 6, 2020) across 47 countries and publicly available data on measure stringency. Findings demonstrate that extraversion moderates the relationship between measure stringency in the early days of the pandemic and depressive symptoms. For introverts, measure stringency has a negative effect on depressive symptoms, while for extraverts, it has a positive, but non-significant effect on depressive symptoms. This study suggests that, although stringent measures generally help people to worry less and feel safer, the lifestyle associated with such measures feels more natural to introverts than to extraverts.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568907/fullCOVID-19COVID-19 protective measuresextraversiondepressive symptomsmental health—related quality of life
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Indy Wijngaards
Indy Wijngaards
Sophie C. M. Sisouw de Zilwa
Martijn J. Burger
Martijn J. Burger
spellingShingle Indy Wijngaards
Indy Wijngaards
Sophie C. M. Sisouw de Zilwa
Martijn J. Burger
Martijn J. Burger
Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
Frontiers in Psychology
COVID-19
COVID-19 protective measures
extraversion
depressive symptoms
mental health—related quality of life
author_facet Indy Wijngaards
Indy Wijngaards
Sophie C. M. Sisouw de Zilwa
Martijn J. Burger
Martijn J. Burger
author_sort Indy Wijngaards
title Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
title_short Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
title_full Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
title_fullStr Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
title_full_unstemmed Extraversion Moderates the Relationship Between the Stringency of COVID-19 Protective Measures and Depressive Symptoms
title_sort extraversion moderates the relationship between the stringency of covid-19 protective measures and depressive symptoms
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Psychology
issn 1664-1078
publishDate 2020-10-01
description From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists are theorizing that, as compared to introverts, extraverts experience more profound negative social consequences from protective measures (e.g., travel restrictions and bans on public gatherings). As the empirical evidence for this claim is lacking, this study tested the hypothesis that extraversion moderates the relationship between the stringency of COVID-19 protective measures and depressive symptoms. Our results were based on survey data from 93,125 respondents collected in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 20–April 6, 2020) across 47 countries and publicly available data on measure stringency. Findings demonstrate that extraversion moderates the relationship between measure stringency in the early days of the pandemic and depressive symptoms. For introverts, measure stringency has a negative effect on depressive symptoms, while for extraverts, it has a positive, but non-significant effect on depressive symptoms. This study suggests that, although stringent measures generally help people to worry less and feel safer, the lifestyle associated with such measures feels more natural to introverts than to extraverts.
topic COVID-19
COVID-19 protective measures
extraversion
depressive symptoms
mental health—related quality of life
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568907/full
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