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Why do scientists think the COVID pandemic may have changed our personalities?

A massive new study looks at how we have changed since March 2020.

HOUSTON — There is no denying that the pandemic was a major life event for almost everyone whether you were infected or not.

Now, researchers have collected data from more than 7,000 people that looked at their responses before the pandemic, during, and now. They looked for various personality traits covering everything from neuroticism to openness and agreeableness.

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What they found was over the course of the pandemic, neuroticism increased while there was a significant decrease in conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and extraversion, which describes someone with a positive attitude.

The changes were most noticeable in young adults. Researchers are not sure why they were more affected but theorize it is because their personalities are more malleable. While all of this sounds like pretty bad news for the future, experts say they aren't so sure.

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According to CNN, researchers think the takeaway really should be that our personalities are not set in stone. It may be looking bleak right now, but our personalities can respond to changes in our environment.

The results also reveal we are not alone and the last few years have been tough on us all.

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