The Pandemic Personality Phenomena
There have been tremendous consequences resulting from the COVID pandemic, most of which have garnered news headlines, changed our way of living “normal” lives, impacted the global economy, and presented unquantifiable mental wellness challenges. And in the midst of this chaos, everyone’s emotional center of gravity has shifted in an unprecedented manner. One unforeseeable conundrum brought about by the pandemic is how forced isolation, and the worldwide lockdown, has changed two primary intrinsic personality traits: introversion and extroversion.
By definition, extroverts are outgoing, vibrant and have a hard time turning away attention. One might perceive these folks as happy, content, resilient and alive, very much focused on improving their wellbeing by connecting with others. Conversely, introverts are more comfortable focusing on their inner thoughts and ideas, rather than on what’s happening externally; they enjoy spending time with just one or two people, rather than large groups of people. But don’t confuse introversion with shyness, it’s not related. Similarly, it’s fair to say no one person is all extrovert or all introvert – we all sit on a sliding scale, and some days we might be more, or less, introverted or extroverted.
It’s also worth pointing out that although these behaviours are what we see on the outside, on the inside introversion and extraversion have less to do with how many friends you have, and more to do with where you get your energy. Extroverts tend to get their energy from other people, enjoying talking and listening to others. They feel comfortable around others and tend to have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, introverts get their energy from ideas and memories and are often found pursuing passions alone or with only one or two other people. In short, introverts look to themselves as a first step, while extroverts look to others for their inspiration, energy and passion.
Although time alone from the flow of life is comfortable and safe for introverts, generally speaking, introverts suffer more from depression, a sense of solemnity and find it challenging to find their happy place – but there is differing research on this.
How Covid has Flipped the Script on Introverts and Extroverts
Social scientists and psychologists studying Covid’s externally imposed change in living conditions, interpersonal relations and personality traits have noticed an interesting – and perhaps confounding reality: many introverts found the pandemic comforting. They no longer felt obligated to participate in the stream of life and because everyone on the planet was forced to experience what they choose to go through every day. In fact, many self-identified introverts (myself included) are dreading a post-pandemic world and a return to “normal.”
Extroverts, for their part, were suddenly forced into an environment contrary to their daily existence, restrained from exhibiting their intrinsic outgoing behaviours. Chris Croll, a writer and empathy activist, wrote in a recent article called ‘Confessions of an Extrovert During Quarantine’ that “after months of not doing the things that make us feel plugged into society, we start to wither. Add in the lack of novelty from spending time with the same few people for months, and the tumult going on in the world around us, and it is a perfect storm for depression to set in.”
The takeaway from this pandemic personality phenomenon is that there has been an extraordinary change in the way extroverts and introverts view happiness and wellbeing, primarily because they have experienced a dynamic shift in their perceptions. Extroverts have been forced to look more inward at their emotions, while introverts have experienced an awkward sense of comfort in observing extroverts forced into a reality most of them live (and love) every day. This doesn’t mean that roles have reversed. Rather, it exemplifies that there has been a sea change in how both introverts and extroverts understand one another – empathy has taken on new meaning for both.
A Social Experiment Before Our Eyes
Early in 2020, both introverts and extroverts were going about their lives, coexisting as best they knew how. Once the reality of Covid shocked the world and restrictions were put in place to protect the global population, however controversial, they happened at lightning speed. None of us had time to prepare for what was to come. The one thing we DID know is that for once, regardless of our personality traits, we were ALL in an unknown place together. And, while there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, a tragedy on the scale of the pandemic is likely to take years before the true impact on our collective – and individual wellbeing – is understood.
Psychologist Susan Krauss Whitbourne refers to the pandemic in the context of the “time of measurement” effect – the rare historical event so profound that it alters perceptions and personalities. The same thing happened after the 1918 Flu Pandemic, World War I and II. People, regardless of whether they were introverts or extroverts, happy or sad, suffered years of psycho-social challenges. Today’s situation is no different. If you stop and think about your own life the last year, you probably can remember times when you felt that like what was happening was surreal – and you were right.
You may have ventured outside your home, either due to work or just a desire to get out from the “prison” of your home and wondered what hidden dangers could threaten your health if you got too close to someone else or touched a potentially contagious surface. You may have felt particularly vulnerable when you heard of friends or family who were struck by the disease leaving you with the feeling that the world – your world – was unravelling. Given the situation, these uncomfortable emotions – anxiety, fear, anger and depression – are understandable despite being different and, for some folks, contrary to their natural state of being.
The results of a newly published international investigation conducted by Israel’s Ben Gurion University of the Neved’s Alexander Reznik and colleagues reported in Psychology Today on their efforts to quantify the nature of COVID-19 anxiety. Approached by colleagues for help on a project to develop a new test measuring COVID-19 fear, Reznik recruited a research team from Russia and Belarus to coordinate a rapid-response study. Within 48 hours, the Israeli-led researchers distributed “The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S)” through their international network based on contacts within the University of the Negev—Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research (RADAR) Center.
As background to the study, the authors noted that “unlike armed conflicts that tend to have boundaries, infectious disease outbreaks are one of the most distressing forms of disaster to deal with psychologically because of the uncertainty they cause.” People feel vulnerable and at risk, and “staying braced for the unknown takes a toll on physical and mental wellbeing.” Given the focus of the authors on harmful substance use, Reznik’s study also suggested that knowing the signs of COVID-19 fear can also help prevent or reduce what can become problem behaviours that develop in response to this fear.
Within the sphere of larger efforts to manage population-level COVID-19 fear, the authors acknowledged that we have all heard a great deal about social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands, but not so much about how to prevent the mental health effects from spreading. What this means for all of us is that we have to accept personal responsibility for our happiness and mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. No one is going to rescue us! So, whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, your escape hatch is at your fingertips – it must come from within.
Time Will Tell The True Impact of the Impact on Introverts and Extroverts
It is important to acknowledge that, while many countries are opening up and stay-at-home restrictions are being lifted, others are still stifled by policies restricting their movement, preventing them from re-entering society to pre-pandemic norms. Additionally, although the vaccine roll-outs in the U.K. and the U.S. have progressed quickly and seen a decline in cases and a relaxing of lockdowns, the rest of the world lags in their roll-out of the vaccine and we’re yet to fully understand the implications of the new Covid variants.
By no means is the pandemic over. And there is no way to predict its long-term impact on our lives as a global community. People are still suffering and dying, forced to be separated from loved ones, unable to reintegrate into the workplace and suffering unimaginable psychological, emotional and spiritual pain. This means that the introversion-extroversion phenomenon, and its long-term impact on human interaction may not be known – and understood – for years.
Human beings were designed to be resilient, and the pandemic has tested our ability to face an unfamiliar challenge. Regardless of whether you are an introvert or extrovert, and not quite sure how to integrate gracefully back into work, social activities and relationships, there are hopeful signs that we may be more ready than we think. Introverts and extroverts have learned a lot from the pandemic, and each other. These inherent personality traits have much to offer to help us better understand one another and ourselves. If nothing else, it just may be that we are witnessing the beginning of a beautiful, transcendent change in interpersonal relationships that is long overdue.