Author(s)

Apeksha Srivastava¹, Frederick L. Coolidge²

¹Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
²Psychology Department, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.

Background: We examined the presence of five maladaptive personality trait domains and 14 personality disorder traits from DSM-5 with regard to attitudes towards the COVID-19 virus, i.e., whether viewed as a serious threat (COVID-19 Group) or not (Denier/Minimizer Group). Method: 146 undergraduate and graduate students in India participated online to answer the questionnaire. Ages ranged from 18 to 33 years old (100 men, 46 women). Results: Consistent with hypotheses, the COVID-19 Group (n = 66) scored significantly higher on the negative affectivity and detachment trait domains and higher on the avoidant and depressive personality disorder traits than the Denier/Minimizer Group (n = 77). Contrary to hypotheses, the COVID-19 Group scored significantly higher on the disinhibition trait domain and Borderline personality disorder scale. Importantly, 20.3% of the COVID-19 Group endorsed the current suicidal ideation item compared to only 11.7% of the Denier/Minimizer Group. While a greater percentage of the COVID-19 Group adhered to the pandemic precautions, a majority of participants in both groups were compliant with social distancing, handwashing/sanitizing, and face-masking. Conclusion: Gaining an understanding of these personality variations might assist in establishing efficient public health actions to mitigate health threats.

COVID-19, Personality Trait Domains, DSM-5, Suicidal Ideation, Pandemic Precautions

Srivastava, A. and Coolidge, F. (2021) Personality Characteristics Associated with Attitudes towards the COVID-19 Virus*. Psychology, 12, 1217-1229. doi: 10.4236/psych.2021.128076.