You, Me, and No One Else: Degree of Social Distancing and Personality Predict Psychological Wellness and Relationship Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Pre-Print)

While incredibly disruptive to everyday life, the COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to study the influence of social distancing and quarantine behaviors on mental health and relationship quality. In this study, we used a snowball sample of 519 Americans to examine whether there were relationships between personality, degree of adherence to social distancing and quarantining norms and regulations, and psychological wellness and relationship quality. We discovered several interesting patterns, some more intuitive than others. Specifically, we present evidence of several interactive effects between personality and degree of social distancing predicting psychological wellness and relationship quality with cohabitants, indicating that some people may fare better in quarantine than others. Results are discussed in terms of practical applications and may provide helpful insights to policymakers and personality psychologists alike.