The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sense of life changes: The moderation effect of personality traits

Abstract The main goal of the study was to enquire into the moderating role of personality characteristics for relationships between the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and one's assessment of life changes experienced during the two-year period of the pandemic. Personality traits, as an internal system regulating ways of interpreting various life events, may play a role of a buffer in predicting the way an individual perceives these changes (positive vs. negative). Responses to an online survey were acquired from 492 adults of several nationalities. Most of them were Polish, Ukrainian, British and Brazilian. The study covered participants in the 18–70 age range (M = 34.14, SD = 13.17). The following research tools were used: the COVID-19 Sense of Life Changes Questionnaire, the Revised Impact of Event Scale, the Ten Item Personality Inventory. The demographic and medical data were gathered. The participants assessed that the pandemic time caused rather negative modifications in their lives. Negative perception of life changes co-occurred with a higher intensity of hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusion. A relationship between a lower tendency for intrusions or avoidance and positive evaluation of changes in some life domains was identified among respondents with low or moderate Conscientiousness and Agreeableness and low level of Emotional stability. These relationships were not observed in respondents with high levels of these personality traits. Personality is considered as substantial buffering factor for relationships between the impact of the pandemic as a traumatizing event and the feeling of life changes.