Pourdehghan Parandis, Pincus Aaron L, Mohammadi Mohammad Reza
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States.
Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Front Psychol. 2025 Feb 19;16:1511970. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1511970. eCollection 2025.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people's behaviors have been considered an important factor in the spread of coronavirus. This situation led us to examine the role of personality in human behavior and its outcomes during the pandemic. This study examined the effect of normative, maladaptive, and dark personality traits on the probability of COVID-19 infection as mediated by psychological and behavioral responses to the pandemic.
The data was collected from 740 Iranians (mean age = 33.34) completing Big Five-10, Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form (PID-5-BF)-Adult, Short Dark Triad (SD3), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21), and Protective Behaviors inventories. We used structural equation modeling to fit a model from the personality traits to COVID-19 infection through mediating effects of psychological and behavioral responses using cross-sectional data.
All path models examined fit the data well. The normative traits openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, introversion, and disagreeableness were positively related to social distancing. The pathological traits antagonism, detachment, negative affectivity, disinhibition, and psychoticism, and dark traits psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism were negatively associated with social distancing. Finally, social distancing was negatively related to infection rates and fully mediated all personality links with infection ( = -0.17, < 0.001).
The findings demonstrate that individual differences in personality predict behaviors crucial to pandemic mitigation. Social distancing can be, directly or indirectly, a significant underlying mechanism linking personality traits to the COVID-19 infection. Public health policymakers should consider personality-tailored interventions for maximizing preventive health behaviors and slowing the spread of infection. This knowledge also could contribute to more effective measures to prepare for public health emergencies in the future.
在新冠疫情期间，人们的行为被视为冠状病毒传播的一个重要因素。这种情况促使我们研究个性在疫情期间人类行为及其结果中所起的作用。本研究考察了规范性、适应不良性和黑暗人格特质对新冠病毒感染概率的影响，这种影响是通过对疫情的心理和行为反应来介导的。
数据收集自740名伊朗人（平均年龄=33.34岁），他们完成了大五人格量表-10、《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第五版简版人格量表（PID-5-BF）-成人版、简短黑暗三元人格量表（SD3）、抑郁、焦虑和压力量表-21项（DASS-21）以及保护行为量表。我们使用结构方程模型，通过横截面数据，从人格特质到新冠病毒感染，经由心理和行为反应的中介效应来拟合一个模型。
所有检验的路径模型都与数据拟合良好。规范性特质开放性、尽责性、神经质、内向性和宜人性与社交距离呈正相关。病理性特质敌对性、疏离性、消极情感性、放纵性和精神病性，以及黑暗特质精神病态、自恋和马基雅维利主义与社交距离呈负相关。最后，社交距离与感染率呈负相关，并且完全介导了所有个性与感染之间的联系（β=-0.17，p<0.001）。
研究结果表明，个性上的个体差异预测了对疫情缓解至关重要的行为。社交距离可以直接或间接地成为将人格特质与新冠病毒感染联系起来的一个重要潜在机制。公共卫生政策制定者应考虑针对个性的干预措施，以最大限度地提高预防性健康行为并减缓感染传播。这些知识也有助于未来制定更有效的公共卫生应急准备措施。
