The effect of personality on likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in the United States.

This study investigated whether personality differences affect the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Personality is associated with personally controllable virus protective behaviors, and adoption of these protective measures influences the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Previous research also indicates relationships between personality and virus infection. Therefore, it was predicted that personality differences would influence the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Participants were 6158 volunteers (53 % female, age M = 50.63, SD = 15.33) in the United States. Between April 2020 and November 2021, participants had one to three serological tests for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, approximately 6 months apart, and completed measures of Big Five personality, risk perception, risk taking, and optimism. After controlling for demographic variables, the openness factor had a significant negative association with seropositivity, even with strict corrections for multiple comparisons. However, when also controlling for county COVID prevalence, as pre-registered, predictions of trait-seropositivity associations were not supported. These results suggest that commonly assessed personality traits do not substantially influence the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2. We conclude that situational factors (e.g., capacity to avoid others, COVID prevalence) have a greater influence than personality on the likelihood of infection.