How lockdown may have changed your personality

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is a severe global health emergency and
psychosocial shock event. All humans were affected by the prolonged social mitigation
measures and the disaster chain of secondary stressors including the most severe economic
meltdown in a century. COVID-19 is possibly the biggest global event and challenge of our
lifetimes. It is changing human attitudes and behaviors today in a number of ways. In the future,
we may find a return to normalcy in many aspects of life, but there’s no question that many
things might have changed, possibly forever. The many months of changes to our routines may
have led to changes in our behaviour that will stick long after the pandemic has finished.
Psychologists have said that the pandemic may be changing your personality, and not
necessarily in bad ways.

The popular view is that personality is mostly unchanging. To some extent that's true, but there
are exceptions. Studies show that over the course of our lifetimes, our personalities often
change dramatically. Conscious effort and big life shifts can also end up shaping our characters.
Everyone had a different lockdown experience, which means its effect on personality will vary
from person to person. Our personalities are shaped by our experiences and social interactions,
so after months of being isolated from friends, family and colleagues, the lockdown has altered
us. There has been one near universal aspect to the past months that it abruptly disrupted our
daily routines and living arrangements in ways that would not normally occur.

The pandemic impacted people differently across different age groups, socioeconomic status,
and personality gradients, and across gender, cultures, and around the globe, as evident in our
emotions like anxiety, anger or calm, and behaviors such as mobility and policy adherence. We
all had our own experiences. Some people were forced into months of unbroken solitude, others
trapped for weeks on end in their houses. Some people saw it as a positive experience or a
welcome opportunity to slow down, go for walks, movie marathons, cooking sessions, relax with
a loving family and enjoy quality time with them. How you coped with lockdown largely
depended on your existing personality but who you spent it with also made a big difference.
The pandemic triggered small but lasting changes in our personalities as our patterned feelings,
thoughts, needs, and behaviors, and how we understand, play, consume, and connect in our
worlds changed.

As it was one of the biggest economic crises in the past few years, many people lost their jobs,
many of them had to move, some died of hunger, some ended their lives. On the other hand,
most of the people had to work from home, some found it comfortable, but others found it quite
tiresome as it just ended the work-life balance. Most happy would be the students who no
longer had to go to schools or universities and it was a long vacation for them. The impact of
isolation was more on elderly people compared to that on younger ones. Initial few weeks were
easy to pass but gradually people started to feel anxious, lonely or depressed. There were
different coping mechanisms used by different people. Many people found their inner talents or
passed their time on their hobbies and passions and on things they lost focus due to their busy
lifestyles. Many people went through a peaceful detoxification of their minds and habits and
from their hectic schedules. All these things which might not seem big right now, may end up
shaping our personalities and minds over a longer period of time. People have learnt to live with
basic necessities only. Most of the people have become organized in many ways, people have
started to be thankful for what they have because the most important thing that the pandemic
has taught us is that our health and our lives are most important and primary and other things
are just secondary.

The long term impact of the coronavirus pandemic shall only become evident two or more years
in the future, when the pandemic may have been fought off successfully, or became part of lives
and the economy may be growing again.