Video chat usage and the Big Five in women during the COVID-19 pandemic

Department(s)

Social Science

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2021

Keywords

Appearance comparison, Big Five, COVID-19, Personality traits, Video chat usage

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exchange of face-to-face interactions for virtual meetings across many circumstances, research is needed to understand how individuals differentially respond to the increase in video chatting. The current study evaluated how the Big Five traits were associated with video chat usage, such as use of video chat services prior to and following the beginning of the pandemic, contexts in which participants used these services (i.e. social, family, work/school), and whether people engaged in appearance comparison when video chatting. Participants were recruited through Prolific and responded to a cross-sectional online survey (n = 438; M = 31.3; 100% women) assessing video chat usage and the Big Five personality traits. Higher extraversion was associated with greater video chat usage prior to and following the beginning of the pandemic, while neuroticism predicted more frequent video chat appearance comparisons when accounting for age and the other Big Five traits. Findings are discussed regarding the implications of these associations, as well as future research opportunities to extend current findings. age

Publication Title

Personality and Individual Differences

ISSN

01918869

Volume

171

DOI

10.1016/j.paid.2020.110537

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