New research published in science journal PLOS One, reported that American adults experienced changes in their personalities over the duration of COVID-19 pandemic. The changes were small but equivalent to around a decade’s worth of personality changes in only two years.

The Pandemic Research

The researchers analysed data from 7,109 adults, aged 18 to 109. The participants took personality tests that assessed the traits in the five-factor model of personality - managing stress, connecting with others, creative thinking, trusting others and being disciplined and responsible. The researchers examined test results from before the pandemic, early in the pandemic and later in the pandemic.

The Findings...

Younger adults have become moodier and more prone to stress, less co-operative and trusting, and less restrained and responsible.
While the study recorded personality changes, it doesn't explain what caused them, but it does stand to reason that a threat on this scale has changed the way we live and manage our lives, it has changed the way we are able to cope with our lives and with each other.

Researcher's offer explanations and have said that young adults’ lives were arguably more disrupted by the pandemic lockdowns and policies than other age groups, because the pandemic significantly changed many of the things that young adults would normally do like going to school, or work and socialising.

While personalities have changed for the worse in the pandemic, it remains to be seen whether those changes will reverse now that lockdowns and social restrictions are over. The researchers' work is continuing so they should be able to establish if this is the case.

One of the limits of the study is that it does not have a control group. The researchers can’t compare their participants with people who didn’t live through the pandemic, because everyone lived through the pandemic in one way or another. (Source: https://www.vice.com)

Conclusion:

My conclusion is that we've been on auto-pilot for so long we've forgotten what it's like to be supportive, caring, patient, tolerant and compassionate. I've heard people say generally we've made ourselves less available, we've become more opinionated, and less co-operative. We have sunk, more than we have swam.

If you want to change you will. We can all pull back, become more reflective, so that we're less on auto-pilot, and more consciously living. Conscious living, life should be about putting others first, thinking about and being more caring, more understanding, being less opinionated, more supportive and more helpful. Instead we may make excuses.

If you're reading this blog, you're already on The CP Diary, so why not check out more of my blogs? As I take myself by the hand, I also take you, the reader. Now is the time to make your own changes. Through my blog and my books, I show you how.

My new book, which is being published on 1st December, called: 'Survival: The Covid Years - Time for Change, explains life during the pandemic through my eyes.

About Survival: The Covid Years

“By shedding light on her personal challenges through the pandemic, Ilana encourages the reader to explore the thoughts and feelings raised by their own pandemic journey. In this way she aims to unlock future potential for others, enabling them to move on from this enormously difficult time. A must read for anyone wanting to take positive steps after the challenges of Covid-19.” 

All of my books are solution focused. If you're interested in grabbing copies of my first two books Cerebral Palsy: 'A Story' or Spirituality, Healing and Me,' you can order Kindle or paperback copies on Amazon, and through the following link https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle