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Victoria鈥檚 COVID-19 regulation will need to recognise the various personality types of its population to ensure widespread behavioural compliance and keep case numbers south of pre-Christmas targets.

That鈥檚 the latest advice from behavioural economist Dr Stephen Whyte, who recently analysed the impact of personality traits on regulatory cooperation, with co-workers at the (QUT).

Regulatory compliance 鈥� one of the most crucial means of curbing the pandemic spread until a vaccine or therapy is approved 鈥� is less likely among extroverted personalities, the research found. In total, five different personality types were analysed, as per the 鈥樷�� well known in the field of psychology.

鈥淚t is harder for extroverts to obey COVID-19 regulation than other personalities. Not because of a tendency to rebel, but because 鈥� without stating the obvious 鈥� isolation and reduced social activity goes against the grain of their character,鈥� Dr Whyte said.

鈥淓xtroverts naturally gravitate towards social environments and will find it far less comfortable and sustainable to carry out self-directed isolation for long periods of time, as per Premier Andrew鈥檚 policies.

鈥淲e can all betray our personality traits for a short time, but anything longer than a week or two and we start to find it untenably difficult. Take your average New Year鈥檚 resolution as an example. It is easy for us to go on a diet or regularly attend the gym at first, but by mid-January most of us have given up and moved on,鈥� he added.

Compounding this, Dr Whyte believes extroverted personality types may be rife in Victoria 鈥� with the state widely recognised as Australia鈥檚 entertainment capital, and attracting a large pool residents on the basis of its social scene.

鈥淰ictoria is arguably the arts, food and sporting capital of Australia, and it is little surprise that its population enjoys engaging in an 鈥榚xtroverted鈥� person-to-person contact lifestyle,鈥� he said.

To this end, Dr Whyte believes overly stringent or self-regulated policies, rolled out over a long-term period, may not be as effective in Victoria.

鈥淐ompared to other countries, our quarantine and social distancing regulation has been quite strict. For example, some European countries are only required to quarantine or self-isolate for seven days, whereas here it is fourteen.鈥�

鈥淚 think we need to be realistic about what we can expect at a population level, and create policies which factor in the 鈥榖ig five鈥� personality types.

鈥淚n the same way that a diet needs to be realistic for people to stick to it long term and generate weight loss, so too does COVID-19 regulation need to be sustainable for everyone involved.

鈥淚f it proves too difficult, people will give up 鈥� either consciously rebelling or subconsciously not being stringent enough with their approach,鈥� he concluded.

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