The Effect of Personality on Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

All of us have experienced the significant disruption to daily life that COVID-19 has introduced to our community, as well as the substantial potential for financial strain, serious physical illness of self or others, and negative impact on mental health. Therefore, it seemed a relevant and valuable research endeavor to study how people are reacting to and impacted by COVID-19. We are confident that this information can be used to inform response and action at a variety of levels, from within the home to governmental bodies, and from the current pandemic to future public health events. We created an online survey that asks about demographic information, social support, personal impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19), personality traits, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hostility, and a few other COVID-19-specific questions such as perceived risk and seriousness of the pandemic. We will send a Qualtrics survey via email to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff of several colleges within Purdue University. We will also post the study for Introduction to Psychology students to complete for credit. The study will include three waves between the beginning of March and the end of May.