Research Feed

A curated collection of research papers and articles exploring the Big Five personality traits.

RESEARCH
COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Worldwide: A Concise Systematic Review of Vaccine Acceptance Rates
Sallam · Vaccines · February 2021

This global review reveals that pandemic control depends heavily on public and healthcare worker acceptance, which varies dramatically by region. High acceptance rates exceeding 90% were found in nations like Ecuador and Malaysia, while significant hesitancy appeared in Kuwait, Russia, and the Un...

RESEARCH
Pandemics Throughout History
Piret & Boivin · Frontiers in microbiology · January 2021

History shows that pandemics are a recurring challenge, often driven by zoonotic pathogens that spill over from animals to humans through trade, hunting, and close contact. While modern medicine has advanced, ancient public health strategies like quarantine, isolation, and border control remain e...

RESEARCH
Agreeableness
The Health Behavior Model of Personality in the Context of a Public Health Crisis
Willroth et al. · Psychosomatic Medicine · January 2021

This study suggests that individuals lower in agreeableness are more likely to resist or fail to comply with behavioral health mandates, such as those issued during public health crises. The findings indicate that tailoring health communication strategies to personality differences could improve ...

RESEARCH
COVID-19 vaccines
The World Health Organization · Web Site · January 2021
RESEARCH
COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low- and middle-income countries
Solís Arce · Nature Medicine · January 2021

This large-scale analysis across 10 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) found significantly higher vaccine acceptance (average 80.3%) compared to the United States (64.6%) and Russia (30.4%). The primary driver for acceptance in these regions is the desire for personal protection, while hesi...

RESEARCH
Gender, Personality and Public Health Compliance
Rothwell · Gallup Blog · January 2021

Research indicates that personality traits significantly influence health behaviors and risk perception during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conscientiousness and Agreeableness strongly correlate with adherence to public health guidelines and vaccine acceptance. Meanwhile, Extraversion affects social di...

RESEARCH
Humanizing voice assistant: The impact of voice assistant personality on consumers’ attitudes and behaviors
Poushneh · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · January 2021

Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant possess personalities that significantly shape user experience. This research identifies seven key personality traits, showing that functional intelligence, sincerity, and creativity are most effective. These traits trigger a 'flow' state, empoweri...

RESEARCH
The Turing Test
Oppy & Dowe · The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · January 2021
RESEARCH
Agreeableness
Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom
Murphy et al. · Nat Communications · January 2021

Based on representative data from Ireland and the United Kingdom, this study found that approximately 31-35% of the population displayed COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or resistance. While these groups varied in sociodemographic backgrounds, they shared consistent psychological profiles across both n...

RESEARCH
World Economic Outlook: Recovery during a Pandemic—Health Concerns, Supply Disruptions, Price Pressures
International Monetary Fund · International Monetary Fund · January 2021

The global economic recovery persists despite pandemic surges, yet COVID-19 has created deep, lasting 'fault lines' in performance. These divergences are driven primarily by disparities in vaccine access and the timing of initial policy support, which are expected to impact medium-term growth. Co...

RESEARCH
Openness
Personality and Its Partisan Political Correlates Predict U
Heyman · Frontiers in Psychology · January 2021

This state-level analysis reveals that the American response to COVID-19 was driven by a complex interplay of politics and personality. Even when controlling for partisan allegiances, Openness emerged as a key predictor of mask-wearing, while Conscientiousness predicted less stringent state restr...

RESEARCH
The self-congruity effect of music
Greenberg et al. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · January 2021

This research introduces the 'self-congruity effect of music,' suggesting that people gravitate toward artists whose public personas mirror their own personality traits. Across three large studies, researchers found that the personality of a listener correlates significantly with the perceived pe...

RESEARCH
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
How personality and policy predict pandemic behavior: Understanding sheltering-in-place in 55 countries at the onset of COVID-19
Gotz et al. · American Psychologist · January 2021

Applying a Lewinian interactionist framework, this study examined how both government policy and personality traits influenced sheltering-in-place behavior across 54 countries. Researchers found that while strict government policies effectively increased compliance, individual personality traits ...

RESEARCH
The Incubation period of COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis
Elias et al. · International Journal of Infectious Diseases · January 2021

This meta-analysis synthesized data to determine the precise incubation period of SARS-CoV-2. By reviewing multiple studies, researchers aimed to create a reliable distribution model that shows how long it typically takes for symptoms to appear after exposure. These findings are essential for pub...

RESEARCH
Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism
Just the Way You Are: Linking Music Listening on Spotify and Personality
Anderson et al. · Social Psychological and Personality Science · January 2021

This study leverages massive streaming data from Spotify to demonstrate that musical preferences are a powerful window into personality. By analyzing millions of songs and over 200 behavioral metrics, researchers used machine learning to predict Big Five traits with high accuracy. The findings ch...

RESEARCH
Volunteering in America: Demographics
AmeriCorps · Volunteering in America: Demographics · January 2021
RESEARCH
Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic
Haischer et al. · PLoS ONE · October 2020

This observational study of nearly 10,000 shoppers in 2020 highlights how demographics and mandates shaped mask-wearing behavior in the United States. Before mandates, voluntary compliance was low at 41%, with significant disparities based on identity and geography: females were 1.5 times more li...

RESEARCH
Descriptions Used in IPIP-NEO Narrative Report
Johnson, J.A. · Web Site · June 2020
RESEARCH
Herd Immunity: Understanding COVID-19
Randolph & Barreiro · Immunity · May 2020

Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient portion of a population becomes immune to an infectious disease (either through vaccination or previous infection) making its spread unlikely. This collective protection effectively shields those who are not immune, such as individuals with compromised immun...

RESEARCH
Hidden invalidity among 15 commonly used measures in social and personality psychology
Hussey & Hughes · Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science · April 2020

This massive study of 144,496 sessions reveals a significant validity crisis in psychological measurement. While 88% of scales show high internal consistency, only 4% pass rigorous structural validity tests. The researchers identify 'v-hacking' (selectively reporting favorable metrics) as a wides...