Moderating the effect of age and sex on the relationship between personality and adherence to containment measures

Abstract

Aim of the studyWe aimed to investigate the moderation effect of sex and age on the relationship between personality and adherence to COVID-19 containment measures.Subject or material and methodsParticipants were 4,538 Brazilian adults, ranging from 18 to 79 years old (M= 31.07, DP= 11.37), which responded to the BFI-2-S and questions regarding adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. We performed an SEM model to investigate the relationship between variables.ResultsOverall, our results indicated that agreeableness, neuroticism, extroversion, openness, and sex are significant predictors of adherence to containment measures. We also identified a positive moderation effect of age in the relationship between neuroticism and commitment to containment measures.DiscussionLevels of personality traits and sex can influence the tendency to comply with containment measures. Age does not directly impact adherence to containment measures; however, it can strengthen the relationship between neuroticism and commitment.ConclusionsIndividual differences can affect the adherence to the containment measures directly and indirectly.