Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Big Five Personality on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

The current study assessed the effect of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic on subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) and whether the pandemic moderated the effect of personality on well-being. Measures of Big Five personality, SWB (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect), and PWB (positive relations, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, and self-acceptance) were obtained from a sample of young adults in Melbourne, Australia ( n = 1,132; July 13–August 11, 2020) during a second wave of viral transmission and lockdown and an identically recruited pre-COVID sample ( n = 547). Well-being was lower in the COVID sample, and differences were largest for positive affect ( d = −0.48) and negative affect ( d = 0.70). While the effect of personality on well-being was relatively robust, the effect of personality on well-being was slightly reduced, and the effect of extroversion on positive affect was particularly attenuated during the pandemic.