Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave
IntroductionLittle is known about the role personality traits may have played for university students in diminishing and compensating for the negative impact of COVID-19 in its early phases, promoting adaptive coping. University students represent a population which was consistently obliged to follo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150674/full |
| _version_ | 1797826362579353600 |
|---|---|
| author | Roberto Burro Giada Vicentini Daniela Raccanello |
| author_facet | Roberto Burro Giada Vicentini Daniela Raccanello |
| author_sort | Roberto Burro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionLittle is known about the role personality traits may have played for university students in diminishing and compensating for the negative impact of COVID-19 in its early phases, promoting adaptive coping. University students represent a population which was consistently obliged to follow social distance rules due to the early shift of many organizations from face-to-face to online learning. Therefore, it is worth exploring whether the Big Five traits acted as risk or protective factors after the outbreak of a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic for Italian university students.MethodsWe involved a sample of 2,995 university students who completed an online survey in March 2020. We measured the Big Five personality traits through the Big Five Inventory-2-XS and their coping strategies through the Robust—Pandemic Coping Scale. The latter assessed four COVID-19-related coping dimensions, namely Despair (e.g., including helplessness and feeling lack of control), Aversion (e.g., referring to oppositive strategies), Proactivity (e.g., comprising problem solving and information seeking), and Adjustment (e.g., concerning reappraisal and assertiveness).ResultsPreliminarily, two Linear Mixed Models indicated that university students had higher scores in Conscientiousness, followed by Open-Mindedness, and then Agreeableness. These three traits were, in turn, higher than Extraversion and Negative Emotionality, which did not differ among them. Concerning coping, university students reacted more frequently utilizing adaptive strategies (with Proactivity used more frequently than Adjustment) rather than maladaptive strategies (with Despair higher than Aversion). A Path Analysis examining the relations between the Big Five traits and the four coping dimensions showed that Negative Emotionality can be considered as a risk factor, and that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Open-Mindedness can be conceptualized as protective factors. More interestingly, we found that Extraversion entailed both a risk and a protective role for Italian university students after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.DiscussionNotwithstanding limitations, these findings can be the basis for developing disaster preparation and prevention actions, aiming at promoting students’ positive coping towards current and future disasters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:30:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9870cd7bf524454e9d77dad688866876 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:30:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9870cd7bf524454e9d77dad6888668762023-05-16T05:26:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-05-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11506741150674Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first waveRoberto BurroGiada VicentiniDaniela RaccanelloIntroductionLittle is known about the role personality traits may have played for university students in diminishing and compensating for the negative impact of COVID-19 in its early phases, promoting adaptive coping. University students represent a population which was consistently obliged to follow social distance rules due to the early shift of many organizations from face-to-face to online learning. Therefore, it is worth exploring whether the Big Five traits acted as risk or protective factors after the outbreak of a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic for Italian university students.MethodsWe involved a sample of 2,995 university students who completed an online survey in March 2020. We measured the Big Five personality traits through the Big Five Inventory-2-XS and their coping strategies through the Robust—Pandemic Coping Scale. The latter assessed four COVID-19-related coping dimensions, namely Despair (e.g., including helplessness and feeling lack of control), Aversion (e.g., referring to oppositive strategies), Proactivity (e.g., comprising problem solving and information seeking), and Adjustment (e.g., concerning reappraisal and assertiveness).ResultsPreliminarily, two Linear Mixed Models indicated that university students had higher scores in Conscientiousness, followed by Open-Mindedness, and then Agreeableness. These three traits were, in turn, higher than Extraversion and Negative Emotionality, which did not differ among them. Concerning coping, university students reacted more frequently utilizing adaptive strategies (with Proactivity used more frequently than Adjustment) rather than maladaptive strategies (with Despair higher than Aversion). A Path Analysis examining the relations between the Big Five traits and the four coping dimensions showed that Negative Emotionality can be considered as a risk factor, and that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Open-Mindedness can be conceptualized as protective factors. More interestingly, we found that Extraversion entailed both a risk and a protective role for Italian university students after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.DiscussionNotwithstanding limitations, these findings can be the basis for developing disaster preparation and prevention actions, aiming at promoting students’ positive coping towards current and future disasters.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150674/fullpersonality traitsCOVID-19copinguniversity studentsBig Fiveresilience |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Burro Giada Vicentini Daniela Raccanello Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave Frontiers in Psychology personality traits COVID-19 coping university students Big Five resilience |
| title | Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave |
| title_full | Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave |
| title_fullStr | Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave |
| title_full_unstemmed | Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave |
| title_short | Big Five personality traits and coping strategies of Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave |
| title_sort | big five personality traits and coping strategies of italian university students during the covid 19 pandemic first wave |
| topic | personality traits COVID-19 coping university students Big Five resilience |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150674/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertoburro bigfivepersonalitytraitsandcopingstrategiesofitalianuniversitystudentsduringthecovid19pandemicfirstwave AT giadavicentini bigfivepersonalitytraitsandcopingstrategiesofitalianuniversitystudentsduringthecovid19pandemicfirstwave AT danielaraccanello bigfivepersonalitytraitsandcopingstrategiesofitalianuniversitystudentsduringthecovid19pandemicfirstwave |