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Public health emergencies such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic force policymakers to implement appropriate measures including social distancing to curb the spread of the virus. Although most people assume that such measures impact mental health, the extent of the impact may vary considerably between individuals. Using data from a 30-day diary study that captured daily happiness ratings (N = 611; 15,607 observations) during the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, we used multi-level modeling to test whether the Big Five personality factors moderated the relationship between enforced social distancing and happiness. We observed that people's happiness was stable throughout the enforcement and easing of social distancing. During the study period, both extraversion and agreeableness were found to be positively associated with happiness. Those high in extraversion were less happy when the distancing measures were enforced than when they were lifted. Our findings point to extraversion as a risk factor in public health emergencies and the importance of identifying people at risk to ensure immediate intervention during a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality has been repeatedly found to predict life satisfaction (LS), but cultural variations have been noted in the effects of each FFM dimension. In this research, we compared the prediction of LS with Extraversion and Neuroticism via the pathways of individual depressive state and interdependent happiness between American (n = 155) and Chinese community adults (n = 248). In both samples, Extraversion and interdependent happiness positively predicted LS, whereas Neuroticism and depressive state negatively predicted LS. Using structural equation modeling, we found that interdependent happiness mediated the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS in both samples, and there was no significant cultural difference in the indirect effect of interdependent happiness. Depressive state mediated the effect of Neuroticism on LS in American adults, but it did not explain the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS for the Hong Kong Chinese adults. We interpret the different effect of depressive state by referring to the literature on cultural differences in emotion. These findings support the notion that the specific effect of each FFM dimension on LS should be examined with reference to the cultural context. Highlights • Extraversion and Neuroticism predict life satisfaction (LS) for both American and Chinese adults. • Depressive state explains the effect of Neuroticism on LS for American but not for Chinese adults. • Interdependent happiness explains the effect of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]