Role of introvert and extrovert personalities in perception of COVID-19’s impact, psychological state, knowledge, infection, and preparedness preferences

Background: The role of introversion and extraversion in shaping pandemic responses remains understudied in the field of public health. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate differences in perceptions of COVID-19’s impact, psychological status, knowledge of COVID-19, infection rate, and preferred preparations among introverts and extroverts. Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional design. From May to June 2022, an online survey was conducted, involving 1,990 adults in Hong Kong. Regression analyses were employed to identify personality differences across 58 outcomes of interest. To account for multiplicity, adjustments were made using the Holm-Bonferroni method. Results: Extroverts reported a greater increase in having a meal at home (adjusted p [adj.p] < 0.001), while introverts’ sleep quality decreased more (adj.p < 0.001). Although no statistical difference was detected between the decrease they showed in emotional stress (adj.p = 1.000) and mental burden (adj.p = 1.000), introverts had higher levels of anxiety (adj.p = 0.006), depression (adj.p < 0.001), and fear (adj.p = 0.026), whereas extroverts had stronger out of control feelings (adj.p = 0.010). Besides, extroverts had higher self-rated knowledge on COVID-19 knowledge (adj.p = 0.016) and prevention (adj.p < 0.001). Moreover, extroverts perceived higher importance in online consultation with doctors, instant personalized health by online chatbot, online courses, instant streaming courses, medicine delivery, online shopping, and food delivery (all adj.p < 0.05). Conclusions: Introverts could benefit most from interventions addressing sleep quality, anxiety, depression, fear, and knowledge promotion about COVID-19, while extroverts could benefit most from approaches that address feeling out of control. Extroverts had higher preferences for online consultations, instant personalized health via online chatbots, streaming courses, online courses, and medicine delivery, emphasizing the importance of considering personality in field of telemedicine, e-health, and remote medicine practice. These findings have important implications for pandemic response and preparedness, highlighting the role of personality in public health emergencies.