Tweet

Bloomberg Opinion

10 May, 9 tweets, 5 min read

Multiple factors dictate how well we have, or have not, coped with Covid lockdowns:

🎂Age
💼Employment
🤧Infection

But several studies suggest that our personalities also play a huge role
trib.al/UIMf2z2

Scholars break down personality traits into five main bundles:

➡️Degree of extroversion
➡️Openness
➡️Agreeableness
➡️Conscientiousness
➡️Neuroticism

It’s the combination of these traits that shape resilience
trib.al/UIMf2z2

One study found that introverts in lockdown reported improvements over time in their mood, whereas the extroverts said their mood got worse.

But the extroverts were still in a better mood overall, thanks to their more cheerful default position trib.al/UIMf2z2

https://twitter.com/tracesoffaith/status/1255666252602920965

During lockdown, introversion was clearly associated with more:

🙇🏻‍♀️Loneliness
😟Anxiety
🙍🏾‍♂️Depression

That may be partly because introverts can’t get respite when they’re stuck with housemates or family members. As one introvert joked:

https://twitter.com/tracesoffaith/status/1255666252602920965

But other traits appear more important. Neuroticism, for example, was strongly correlated with more anxiety and worse depression.

People who worry even in normal times are also at heightened risk of freaking out when a deadly virus is making the rounds trib.al/UIMf2z2

Openness was also associated with increased anxiety. This trait includes abstract, creative and lateral thinking.

Very open minds are also better at imagining all the things that could go wrong trib.al/UIMf2z2

Agreeability helped against both anxiety and depression, but not as much as you might think.

It may mainly boost the positive effects of extroversion, improving the quality of human connections, which is more comforting in bad times than sheer quantity trib.al/UIMf2z2

The winners are the more conscientious people around us. The most self-disciplined were also the least anxious and depressed when stuck at home.

These people are better at having routines that provide structure during endless days of remote work & school trib.al/UIMf2z2

Conscientiousness or self-discipline helps in every other way:

🧘🏽It gets us on the yoga mat day after boring day
🍷Corks the wine bottle after the second glass
🗓️Helps us meet our deadlines on the job trib.al/UIMf2z2

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @bopinion

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

12 May

If you haven’t heard of B.1.617 yet, chances are you soon will.

This Covid-19 variant is at least partly behind the overwhelming second wave in India bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Authorities are treating B.1.617 as a “variant of concern," meaning there’s something worrying about the criteria on which a virus is judged:

➡️ How fast it transmits
➡️ How many it kills
➡️ If it evades detection or makes vaccines less effective trib.al/mMGYSUX

The rest of the world needs to better understand how a Covid variant is devastating the country. Out of pure self-interest.

The longer it takes to tame India’s second wave, the higher the risk of a variant that does escape vaccine protection trib.al/mMGYSUX

Read 5 tweets

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

11 May

@AAS_Office

In 1967, Barron Hilton, of Hilton Hotels, turned up at an @AAS_Office meeting devoted to “outer space tourism.”

There, he laid out plans for orbiting Hiltons and lunar hotels, complete with Galaxy Lounges where guests might “enjoy a martini and the stars”
trib.al/7ou3BhC

Alas, humans had to wait decades for a space outpost, and the one they got, the International Space Station, wasn't built for luxury travel.

But now, as the ISS nears the end of its useful life, some entrepreneurs are revisiting Hilton’s vision trib.al/7ou3BhC

The American ambition to commercialize space is almost as old as the urge to explore it.

In 1962, NASA launched Telstar 1, the world’s first privately financed satellite, opening the way for today's multibillion-dollar communication-satellite industry trib.al/7ou3BhC

Read 11 tweets

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

8 May

Elon Musk opined on a podcast last year that “too many smart people go into finance and law.”

But there’s some good news: For the young graduates going after a career in tech, there’s never been a better time in terms of the potential monetary reward trib.al/fY8tFiQ

Joining a young startup could be a ticket to the next:

❄️Snowflake
🎮Roblox
🏡Airbnb

There’s also a chance to realize that time-honored tech industry cliche: changing the world for the better trib.al/fY8tFiQ

We’ve been able to stay safe and (relatively) sane during the pandemic, thanks to tech companies providing:

📦E-commerce and food-delivery apps
💻Videoconferencing tools
🎮Streaming services and video games trib.al/fY8tFiQ

Read 11 tweets

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

7 May

Fifteen years ago, population growth was one of America’s core advantages because it had a high fertility rate close to the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman.

Add copious immigration on top of that, and our demographic future seemed assured trib.al/G8gA0SY

Projections had the U.S. increasing its size relative to its main potential rival, China, over the course of the century. The country’s youthfulness implied a bright future for its:

💰Economy
📊Asset markets
⚕️Solvency of its pension & health care systems
trib.al/G8gA0SY

This vision of demographic dominance has since gone up in smoke.

The 2020 Census indicates that the population is growing more slowly than at any time since WWII. It's not shrinking yet, but if we don’t correct course, we are certain to stagnate in size trib.al/G8gA0SY

Read 14 tweets

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

6 May

A handful of wealthy nations have had a change of heart about Covid-19 vaccine patents.

“It’s a belated but powerful step intended to boost vaccine campaigns in developing countries as new virus hotspots flare up,” writes @LionelALaurent trib.al/JwwJY3R

As big as it is, it’s only a start.

Even assuming WTO patent obligations are waived with the support of the U.S. and Europe — which isn’t a sure thing yet — it’s unlikely to be enough on its own to break the world out of this pandemic trib.al/JwwJY3R

@mihirssharma

Pushing the pharmaceutical industry to share manufacturing know-how is the real goal.

"It's not really the recipe that's the problem at this point, it's getting the expertise to manufacturers in developing countries that's important," says @mihirssharma trib.al/JwwJY3R

Read 12 tweets

Bloomberg Opinion

@bopinion

4 May

There may not be a single national vaccine passport in the U.S. — but states and the private sector are developing a number of certification apps.

Regardless of what they are called, vaccine passports are inevitable bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Vaccine passports are the subject of debate:

➡️Right-wing pundits and politicians say they are a threat to personal liberty
➡️Many liberals worry they will exacerbate “pandemic inequality” because the vaccination rate among the poor is low
trib.al/bswBLhX

New York’s Excelsior Pass is the first government-issued proof of vaccination in the U.S.

But it won’t be the last — at least 17 more are in the works in the country alone trib.al/bswBLhX