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. 2021 Dec;1(4):100038.
doi: 10.1016/j.ahr.2021.100038. Epub 2021 Sep 20.

Big Five personality traits and COVID-19 precautionary behaviors among older adults in Europe

Jaakko Airaksinen  1   2 , Kaisla Komulainen  1 , Markus Jokela  1 , Kia Gluschkoff  1
Affiliations

Big Five personality traits and COVID-19 precautionary behaviors among older adults in Europe

Jaakko Airaksinen et al. Aging Health Res. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: Taking precautions against COVID-19 is important among older adults who have a greater risk for severe illness if infected. We examined whether Big Five personality traits are associated with COVID-19 precautionary behaviors among older adults in Europe.

Method: We used data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (N = 34 629). Personality was self-reported in 2017 using the BFI-10 inventory. COVID-19 precautionary behaviors - wearing a mask, limiting in-person contacts, keeping a distance to others, washing hands, and using a disinfectant - were assessed in the summer of 2020 through self-reports. Associations between personality and precautionary behaviors were examined with multilevel random-intercept logistic regression models. The models were adjusted for age, gender, and educational attainment.

Results: Personality traits were differentially associated with precautionary behaviors, with higher openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism showing the most consistent associations. The pattern of associations between personality traits and precautionary behaviors varied depending on the specific behavior. The associations were relatively weak in comparison to those between sociodemographic factors and precautionary behaviors.

Conclusions: Among older adults, taking COVID-19 precautionary behaviors was most consistently related to higher openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, suggesting that precautionary behaviors may be motivated by multiple psychological differences.

Keywords: Face mask; Individual differences; Social distancing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The associations between Big Five personality traits and COVID-19 precautionary behaviors among older adults (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals). O=openness; C=conscientiousness; E=extraversion; A=agreeableness; N=neuroticism.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The associations between Big Five personality traits and COVID-19 precautionary behaviors among older adults (predicted marginal probabilities). The figure on the left-hand side displays probabilities from 0 to 100% and the figure on the right-hand side displays only probabilities from 80 to 100%. The x-axis shows the standardized values of a personality trait. O=openness; C=conscientiousness; E=extraversion; A=agreeableness; N=neuroticism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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