Mountains of research on the effectiveness of structured psychotherapies tell us that relatively quick changes in individual responses and behaviors are quite possible. Change in more stable and long term patterns of behavior traditionally referred to as personality appear to be much more gradual. But did we all experience sudden personality change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
The pandemic was highly stressful for so many people. Typically stressful events affect us, but do not lead to sudden changes in personality. But what about more large-scale, society-altering events? Sayyyy, maybeeee, pandemics? The COVID-19 pandemic led to many large scale social changes. So could it have changed our personalities?
Recent research examined personality scores before and after the pandemic to note any changes. A study revealed BIG-5 personality test scores (a gold standard in personality testing) went relatively unchanged for 88-97% of participants due to the pandemic.
When examining individual personality traits, the study found small increases in conscientiousness following the pandemic. It also revealed small decreases in extraversion. Openness to experience remained especially stable over time. However, results showed that losing someone to COVID-19 related death was related to decreases in extraversion.
To note, these findings are correlational and did not measure causation. Some changes noted at briefer time points throughout the pandemic might lend support for a causal role. This research also did not examine changes within those who might report to therapy, but research otherwise finds only very slight changes in personality due to therapy.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not reveal sudden personality change in general, but it was associated with small specific changes. The increase in therapy utilization during the pandemic could have built helpful tools for many individuals’ coping responses while not changing long-standing patterns of personality. And isn’t that all we are shooting for in therapy?
