Academic Scientific JournalsPandemic-activated psychological growth: significance of extraversion, self-consciousness and COVID-19 related anxiety
Keywords:
extraversion, pandemic-activated psychological growth (PPG), reflective and ruminative self-consciousness, COVID-19 related anxietyAbstract
Background
The sense of threat to health and life in the face of a pandemic, accompanied by difficulties imposed by lockdown, may trigger a serious crisis. Among possible consequences of such a crisis may paradoxically be the phenomenon of psychological growth. The aim of this article is to identify predictors of pandemic-activated psychological growth (PPG). The relationships between extraversion, reflective and ruminative self-consciousness and PPG were the subject of our inquiry. Additionally, a question was posed about the indirect effect of self-consciousness on PPG through anxiety.
Participants and procedure
The study involved 1206 participants aged 18 to 26 years, who declared that the pandemic situation significantly threatened their important life goals. Procedure: crosssectional design. Four online short questionnaire-measures were used: the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ), the Current Self-disposition Scale (CSS), and the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI).
Results
Extraversion and reflective self-consciousness were direct predictors of higher PPG, whereas ruminative self-consciousness was directly related to a lower PPG. There was an indirect effect of ruminative self-consciousness on PPG through COVID-19 related anxiety.
Conclusions
Although the results do not confirm the permanence of a growth effect, finding PPG predictors considered as beneficial resources for coping with difficult pandemic circumstances appears to be valuable in the current state of affairs.
Downloads
References
Abbott, R. A., Croudace, T. J., Ploubidis, G. B., Kuh, D., Richards, M., & Huppert, F. A. (2008). The relationship between early personality and midlife psychological well-being: Evidence from a UK birth cohort study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 679–687. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-008-0355-8.
Albery, I. P., Spada, M. M., & Nikcevic, A. (2021). The COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome and selective attentional bias towards COVID‐19‐related stimuli in UK residents during the 2020‐2021 pandemic. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28, 1367–1378. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2639.
Asmundson, G., Paluszek, M. M., & Taylor, S. (2021). Real versus illusory personal growth in response to COVID-19 pandemic stressors. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 81, 102418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102418.
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893–897. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.56.6.893.
Butcher, J. N., Hooley, J. M., & Mineka, S. M. (2014). Abnormal psychology (16th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.
Calhoun, L. G., Cann, A., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2010). The posttraumatic growth model: Sociocultural considerations. In T. Weiss & R. Berger (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe (pp. 1–14). John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Cattell, R. B., & Rickels, M. D. (1964). Diagnostic power of IPAT objective anxiety neuroticism tests with private patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 11, 459–465. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1964.01720290001001.
Casagrande, M., Favieri, F., Tambelli, R., & Forte, G. (2020). The enemy who sealed the world: Effects quarantine due to the COVID-19 on sleep quality, anxiety, and psychological distress in the Italian population. Sleep Medicine, 75, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.05.011.
Casale, S., & Flett, G. L. (2020). Interpersonally-based fears during the COVID-19 pandemic: Reflections on the fear of missing out and the fear of not mattering constructs. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 17, 88–93. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200211.
Chen, R., Sun, C., Chen, J. J., Jen, H. J., Kang, X. L., Kao, C. C., & Chou, K. R. (2021). A large-scale survey on trauma, burnout, and posttraumatic growth among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 30, 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12796.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4, 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5.
Cox, C. R., Swets, J. A., Gully, B., Xiao, J., & Yraguen, M. (2021). Death concerns, benefit-finding, and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 648609. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648609.
Dąbrowski, K. (1979). Dezintegracja pozytywna [Positive disintegration]. PIW.
Derogatis, L. R., & Cleary, P. A. (1977). Confirmation of the dimensional structure of the SCL-90: a study in construct validation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 981–989. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(197710)33:43.0.CO;2-0.
Długosz, P. (2020). Trauma pandemii COVID-19 w polskim społeczeństwie [Trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic in Polish society]. CeDeWu.
Eisma, M. C., Lenferink, L. I. M., Stroebe, M. S., Boelen, P. A., & Schut, H. A. W. (2019). No pain, no gain: Cross-lagged analyses of posttraumatic growth and anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief symptoms after loss. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 32, 231–243, https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2019.1584293.
Elwood, L. S., Wolitzky-Taylor, K., & Olatunji, B. (2012). Measurement of anxious traits: a contemporary review and synthesis. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 25, 647–666. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.582949.
Endler, N. S., Parker, J. D., Bagby, R. M., & Cox, B. J. (1991). Multidimensionality of state and trait anxiety: Factor structure of the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 919–926. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.6.919.
Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning: an introduction to logotherapy. Beacon. Fredrickson, B. L., Tugade, M. M., Waugh, C. E., & Larkin, G. R. (2003). What good are positive emotions in crises? A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.84.2.365.
Garrido, S. (2018). The influence of personality and coping style on the affective outcomes of nostalgia: Is nostalgia a healthy coping mechanism or rumination? Personality and Individual Differences, 120, 259–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.07.021.
Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B. Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1.
Grös, D. F., Antony, M. M., Simms, L. J., & McCabe, R. E. (2007). Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): Comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Psychological Assessment, 19, 369–381. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.19.4.36.9
Harrington, R., & Loffredo, D. A. (2010). Insight, rumination, and self-reflection as predictors of well-being. The Journal of Psychology, 145, 39–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2010.528072.
Heidemeier, H., & Göritz, A. S. (2016). The instrumental role of personality traits: Using mixture structural equation modeling to investigate individual differences in the relationships between the Big Five traits and life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17, 2595–2612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9708-7.
Hetkamp, M., Schweda, A., Bäuerle, A., Weismüller, B., Kohler, H., Musche, V., Dörrie, N., Schöbel, C., Teufel, M., & Skoda, E. M. (2020). Sleep disturbances, fear, and generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 shut down phase in Germany: Relation to infection rates, deaths, and German stock index DAX. Sleep Medicine, 75, 350–353. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.08.033.
Hobfoll, S. E., Hall, B., Canetti-Nisim, D., Johnson, R., & Palmieri, P. (2007). Refining our understanding of traumatic growth in the face of terrorism: Moving from meaning cognitions to doing what is meaningful. Applied Psychology, 56, 345–366. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00292.x.
Islam, M. S., Ferdous, M. Z., & Potenza, M. N. (2020). Panic and generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic among Bangladeshi people: an online pilot survey early in the outbreak. Journal of Affective Disorders, 276, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.049.
Israelashvili, J. (2021). More positive emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with better resilience, especially for those experiencing more negative emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 648112. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648112.
Jackson, S., & Schneider, T. R. (2014). Extraversion and stress. In A. D. Haddock & A. P. Rutkowski (Eds.), The psychology of extraversion (pp. 121–131). Nova Publishers.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Toward a new psychology of trauma. Free Press.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (2006). Schema-change perspectives on posttraumatic growth. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research & practice (pp. 81–99). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Julian, L. J. (2011). Measures of anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression ScaleAnxiety (HADS-A). Arthritis Care & Research, 63, 467–472. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.20561.
Koksal, F., & Power, G. G. (1990). Four Systems Anxiety Questionnaire (FSAQ): a self-report measure of somatic, cognitive, behavioural, and feelings components. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54, 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.1990.9674018.
Lee, S. A. (2020). Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: a brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Studies, 44, 393–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481.
Li, S., Wang, Y., Xue, J., Zhao, N., & Zhu, T. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 epidemic declaration on psychological consequences: a study on active Weibo users. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 2032. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062032.
Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: a review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1023/ B:JOTS.0000014671.27856.7e.
Liu, S., Lithopoulos, A., Zhang, C. Q., Garcia-Barrera, M. A., & Rhodes, R. E. (2021). Personality and perceived stress during COVID-19 pandemic: Testing the mediating role of perceived threat and efficacy. Personality and Individual Differences, 168, 110351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110351.
Lyubomirsky, S., Caldwell, N. D., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Effects of ruminative and distracting responses to depressed mood on retrieval of autobiographical memories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 166–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.166.
Morris, B. A., & Shakespeare-Finch, J. (2011). Rumination, post-traumatic growth, and distress: Structural equation modelling with cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 20, 1176–1183. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1827.
Ogińska-Bulik, N., & Juczyński, Z. (2010). Rozwój potraumatyczny – charakterystyka i pomiar [Posttraumatic growth – characteristic and measurement]. Psychiatria, 7, 129–142.
Öhman, A. (2000). Fear and anxiety: Clinical, evolutionary, and cognitive perspectives. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 573–593). Guilford.
O’Leary, V. E., & Ickovics, J. R. (1995). Resilience and thriving in response to challenge: an opportunity for a paradigm shift in women’s health. Women’s Health, 1, 121–142.
Owens, G. P. (2016). Predictors of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress symptom severity in undergraduates reporting potentially traumatic events. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72, 1064–1076. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22309.
Park, C. L., Cohen, L. H., & Murch, R. L. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64, 71–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00815.x.
Presti, G., Mchugh, L., Gloster, A., Karekla, M., & Haye, S. C. (2020). The dynamics of fear at the time of COVID-19: a contextual behavioral science perspective. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 17, 65–71. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200206.
Puryear, J. S., Kettler, T., & Rinn, A. N. (2017). Relationships of personality to differential conceptions of creativity: a systematic review. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11, 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000079.
Rosenhan, D. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1989). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Scherer, K. R. (1984). On the nature and function of emotion: a component process approach. In K. R. Scherer & P. Ekman (Eds.), Approaches to emotion (pp. 293–318). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Scheier, M. F., Weintraub, J. K., & Carver, C. S. (1986). Coping with stress: Divergent strategies of optimists and pessimist. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1257–1264. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1257.
Schimmenti, A., Billieux, J., & Starcevic, V. (2020). The four horsemen of fear: an integrated model of understanding fear experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 17, 41–45. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200202.
Schippers, M. C., & Ziegler, N. (2019). Life crafting as a way to find purpose and meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2778. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02778.
Seligowski, A. V., Lee, D. J., Bardeen, J. R., & Orcutt, H. K. (2015). Emotion regulation and posttraumatic stress symptoms: a meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 44, 87–102. https://doi.org/10.10 80/16506073.2014.980753.
Silvia, P. J., & Phillips, A. (2011). Evaluating self-reflection and insight as self-conscious traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 234–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.035.
Skalski, S., Uram, P., Dobrakowski, P., & Kwiatkowska, A. (2020). Thinking too much about the novel coronavirus. The link between persistent thinking about COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 anxiety and trauma effects. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 8, 169–174. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp.2020.100094.
Słowińska, A., Zbieg, A., & Oleszkowicz, A. (2014). Kwestionariusz Ruminacji-Refleksji (RRQ) Paula D. Trapnella i Jennifer D. Campbell – polska adaptacja metody [The Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ) by Paul D. Trapnell and Jennifer F. Campbell – Polish adaptation of the method]. Polskie Forum Psychologiczne, 19, 457–478. https://doi.org/10.14656/PFP20140403.
Sorokowska, A., Słowińska, A., Zbieg, A., & Sorokowski, P. (2014). Polska adaptacja testu Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) – TIPI-PL – wersja standardowa i internetowa [The Polish adaptation of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) – TIPI-PL – standard and online version]. WrocLab.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (FormY). Mind Garden. Steele, H. (2020). COVID-19, fear and the future: an attachment perspective. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 17, 97–99. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200213.
Taku, K., Cann, A., Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2009). Intrusive versus deliberate rumination in posttraumatic growth across US and Japanese samples. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 22, 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800802317841.
Taylor, J. A. (1953). A personality scale of manifest anxiety. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 285–290. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056264.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 1–18. https:// doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01.
Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private selfconsciousness and the five-factor model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284–304. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.2.284.
Trzebiński, J., Cabański, M., & Czarnecka, J. Z. (2020) Reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic: The influence of meaning in life, life satisfaction, and assumptions on world orderliness and positivity. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25, 544–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1765098.
Vail, K. E., Juhl, J., Arndt, J., Vess, M., Routledge, C., & Rutjens, B. T. (2012). When death is good for life: Considering the positive trajectories of terror management. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16, 303–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868312440046.
Wang, C., Tripp, C., Sears, S. F., Xu, L., Tan, Y., Zhou, D., Ma, W., Xu, Z., Chan, N. A., Ho, C., & Ho, R. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health in the two largest economies in the world: a comparison between the United States and China. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 44, 741– 759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00237-7.
Waters, L., Algoe, S. B., Dutton, J., Emmons, R., Fredrickson, B. L., Heaphy, E., Moskovitz, J. T., Neff, K., Niemiec, R., Pury, C., & Steger, M. (2021). Positive psychology in a pandemic: Buffering, bolstering, and building mental health. Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1871945.
Wijngaards, I., Sisouw de Zilwa, S., & Burger, M. J. (2020). Extraversion moderates the relationship between the stringency of COVID-19 protective measures and depressive symptoms. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 568907. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568907.
Williams, L., Rollins, L., Young, D., Fleming, L., Grealy, M., Janssen, X., Kirk, A., MacDonald, B., & Flowers, P. (2021). What have we learned about positive changes experienced during COVID-19 lockdown? Evidence of the social patterning of change. PLoS One 16, e0244873. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244873.
Wong, P. T. P. (2020). Existential positive psychology and integrative meaning therapy. International Review of Psychiatry, 32, 565–578. https://doi.org/10. 1080/09540261.2020.18147038.
Wolfradt, U., Oemler, M., Braun, K., & Klement, A. (2014). Health anxiety and habitual rumination: The mediating effect of serenity. Personality and Individual Differences, 71, 130–134. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.paid.2014.07.030.
Yalom, I. D., & Lieberman, M. A. (1991). Bereavement and heightened existential awareness. Psychiatry, 54, 334–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1991.11024563.
Xie, Y., Kong, Y., Yang, J., & Chen, F. (2019). Perfectionism, worry, rumination, and distress: a meta-analysis of the evidence for the perfectionism cognition theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 139, 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.11.028.
Zalta, A. K., Gerhart, J., Hall, B. J., Rajan, K. B., Vechiu, C., Canetti, D., & Hobfoll, S. E. (2017). Selfreported posttraumatic growth predicts greater subsequent posttraumatic stress amidst war and terrorism. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 30, 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1229467.
Zhai, H. K., Li, Q., Hu, Y. X., Cui, Y. X., Wei, X. W., & Zhou, X. (2021). Emotional creativity improves posttraumatic growth and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 600798. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.600798.
