Original Research

SAGE Open
January-March 2023: 1–9
Ó The Author(s) 2023
Students’ Emotions During Distance DOI: 10.1177/21582440231157305
journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo
Education: The Role of Personality
Factors and Sense of Coherence

Timo Lajunen1,2 , Esma Gaygısız3 , and Wei Wang1

Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swedish universities had to shift from face-to-face teaching to internet-based distant learn-
ing (DL). DL differs from classroom teaching and may have a negative impact on students’ emotions while studying. Students’
experiences related to DL may reflect their personality, resilience, that is, Sense of Coherence (SOC), and preference for the
education method. In this study, students’ emotions related to DL and the relationship between personality factors, SOC and
positive and negative emotions related to DL were studied. One hundred ninety-seven university students filled in an online
survey about positive and negative emotions related to DL, personality factors (Big-5), SOC, frequency of applying COVID-
19 distancing measures, and frequency and freedom to choose DL. The survey was completed in March-April 2021 (Sample
1), when all lectures were delivered from a distance and in November 2021 (Sample 2), when lectures were on the campus.
There were no differences between the frequency of negative and positive emotions. Agreeableness (Sample 1) and
Neuroticism (Sample 2) correlated positively with negative emotions. SOC correlated negatively with negative emotions in
Sample 2. In regression analyses of the combined data, Agreeableness was positively and Openness to Experience was nega-
tively related to negative emotions. Agreeableness was negatively and Openness to Experience positively related to positive
emotions related to forced DL. DL—even forced one—has both positive and negative effects on students’ emotions. These
effects depend on students’ personality characteristics to some degree. SOC might reduce the negative effects of forced dis-
tance learning.

Keywords
distance learning, COVID-19, positive and negative emotions, higher education, personality, the Sense of Coherence

Introduction universities, and distance work in workplaces. In Sweden,

for example, public schools such as primary and middle
So far (May 15th, 2022), over 517 million confirmed schools have been open while university students have
COVID-19 cases and over 6.2 million deaths have been faced home confinement and distance education. The
reported (Ritchie et al., 2020; World Health COVID-19 pandemic forced many higher education insti-
Organization, 2022). In addition to long and short term tutions to adopt internet-based teaching methods without
health consequences directly related to COVID-19 infec- time for preparing proper distance learning pedagogics.
tion, also several impacts on psychological well-being As a result, seminars, lectures, group work, home
have been observed, such as post-traumatic stress symp-
toms (Carenzo et al., 2021) high levels of psychological 1
distress (Qiu et al., 2020), depression (Wang et al., 2020), Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and
Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
anxiety (Lima et al., 2020; Rajkumar, 2020), extreme fear 2
Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
and uncertainty (Shigemura et al., 2020). The pandemic 3
Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara,
seems to influence especially young people. In one study, Turkey
nearly 40.4% of the young people tended to have psy-
Corresponding Author:
chological problems (Liang et al., 2020). Timo Lajunen, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science
Many countries have adopted restraint measures such and Technology, Torgarden 7491, Norway.
as restrictions on public events, the closure of schools and Email: [email protected]

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2 SAGE Open

assignments, and examinations were moved to the inter- The Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM)
net in the same format as they were applied in face-to- (McCrae & Costa, 1987) is currently the most widely
face classroom teaching. A general impression in higher used model in personality research. The Five-Factor
education educators seems to be that this forced move to Model splits personality into five different traits:
internet-based education methods was experienced Openness to Experience (being intellectually curious and
mainly negatively among students. This assumption interested in new experiences); Conscientiousness (being
might, however, be far too simplistic, and students might organized and goal-directed); Extraversion (being soci-
also experience some aspects positive in internet-based able and liking lively social settings); Agreeableness
distance learning even if the ‘‘distance learning’’ pedago- (being likeable, warm, and trusting); and Neuroticism
gics is limited to transferring a lecture to the internet (emotional instability, moody, and easily stressed).
instead of the lecture room. For example, reduced need While the FFM based personality tests measure these
for commuting and time saved, comfortable, and control- five dimensions, it should be noted that the test scores
lable work environment, technical tools (e.g., recording, do not yield to categorical personality ‘‘types’’ such as
screen captures, low threshold to ask questions in chat), ‘‘neurotic’’ or ‘‘extravert’’ but describe the respondent in
and higher concentration due to reduced distraction in the given continuum of scores, that is, a person’s degree
lecture room might actually benefit some students. in the scale concerned. It could be assumed that students
Earlier research, however, seems to suggest that forced whose personality is characterized by extraversion might
distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic lock- find distance learning and isolation more difficult than
down has impacted students mostly negatively. In an others because people scoring high in Extraversion enjoy
Italian study, distance learning was associated with being meeting people and lively social interactions. People
more distracted when studying and having difficulties in scoring high in Agreeableness, on the other hand, enjoy
organizing studies (Commodari & La Rosa, 2021). In a intimate communication with a few good friends.
Mexican study, especially time management and separa- Possibilities for this kind of communication are limited
tion between work and free time seemed to be challen- in distance education when the communication takes
ging among higher education students (Zapata-Garibay place on the internet via technological appliances such as
et al., 2021). In another study, the negative effects of dis- phones and computers. It can also be expected that
tance learning seem to focus on concentration and learn- Neuroticism correlates with negative experiences during
ing abilities among students (Giusti et al., 2021). It distance education because distance education is a new
should be noted, however, that the effects of the pan- platform with its own challenges (e.g., connection prob-
demic and distance learning are overlapping and, there- lems and technical issues) that may increase stress among
fore, it is difficult to know how distance learning alone students. Conscientiousness can be hypothesized to facil-
contributes to stress and problems with concentration. itate coping with interned based distance education
Uncertainty and possible anxiety during the pandemic because a person scoring high in conscientiousness
can be expected to influence the learning experience and understands the necessity of social distancing and is
outcomes negatively among students. probably, therefore, readier to accept the internet as
Some studies show that the effect of distance learning means of education. Openness to experience might not
on the students’ performance, mood and wellbeing, in be related to emotions during distance education simply
general, is moderated by students’ grade and gender because new experiences can be found equally in internet
(Buško & Bezinović, 2021), cognitive strategies and com- and face-to-face teaching.
petence with online interactive communication In addition to certain personality factors such as
(Fernández Cruz et al., 2020), learning style Conscientiousness and emotional stability, resilience
(Baherimoghadam et al., 2021), and resilience compo- seems to improve students’ ability to cope with distance
nents such as social and emotional flexibility (Valieva & learning during the pandemic (Commodari & La Rosa,
Ivanova, 2020). Moreover, situational anxiety seems to 2021; Quintiliani et al., 2022). One crucial resilience-
be an important factor in coping with distance learning related mitigating factor seems to be the Sense of
(Eshet et al., 2021; Steinberger et al., 2021; Valieva & Coherence (Antonovsky, 1996) among the general public
Ivanova, 2020). In a study comparing face-to-face learn- (Barni et al., 2020; Schäfer et al., 2020) and higher educa-
ing and distance learning during the pandemic, personal- tion students (Li et al., 2021; Misamer et al., 2021;
ity factors were related to the anxiety felt about statistics Shorey et al., 2022) and teachers (Padmanabhanunni
courses in both settings (Steinberger et al., 2021). Hence, et al., 2022). Sense of Coherence (SOC) refers to the hol-
students’ personality factors and resilience seem to partly istic and lasting view of life and the world around us
predict how they can cope with distance education and, ‘‘making sense cognitively, instrumentally, and emotion-
thus, positive and negative emotions felt in distance edu- ally’’ (Antonovsky, 1996). SOC includes three interre-
cation during the COVID-19 pandemic. lated components: Comprehensibility (i.e., seeing life as
Lajunen et al. 3

understandable), Manageability (i.e., feeling of having The Participants

resources and skills to cope with stressful events in life), The participants were 197 students of social sciences
and Meaningfulness (i.e., seeing life as worthy and full of (26.4% men). The mean age of the sample was 24.9 years
motivation). Earlier studies conducted in educational set- and the standard deviation 5.9 years. Sample 1 included
tings have found that a high Sense of Coherence is 122 students (61.9%), and sample 2 included 75 students
related lower COVID-19 related depression, anxiety, and (38.1%). The students participating in general psychol-
stress among college students (Li et al., 2021; Shorey ogy courses for non-psychology major students were sent
et al., 2022). Especially the sense of meaningfulness seems an invitation to participate in an internet-based survey.
to be an important protective factor among students Hence, a participant’s major could be anything else but
(Misamer et al., 2021) and teachers (Padmanabhanunni not psychology. The students answered the survey anon-
et al., 2022). It can be expected that students scoring high ymously and did not receive any reward for participa-
in SOC can cope better with the challenges of distance tion. When asked about the frequency of studying at
education and isolation due to the pandemic. home, 72.1% of respondents reported having been study-
The aim of the present study is to investigate how per- ing at home (i.e., via the internet) almost always during
sonality factors and the Sense of Coherence are related the pandemic, while 14.7% of respondents had studied
to positive and negative emotions experienced during mostly at home and rarely at school. The rest of the
distance education in two samples collected in different respondents had been studying at home and at school
phases of the pandemic. The first sample was collected in equally (8.2%) or mostly at school (4.6%).
March-April 2021 when all higher education institutes
applied distance education solely, many restrictions were
in force, and when the COVID-19 vaccination program Measures
was not yet applied among young adults. The second Positive and Negative Emotions Related to Forced Distance
sample was collected in November 2021 when almost all Education. Students were asked to evaluate how much
courses were moved back to campus (since November they experience positive (five items) and negative (five
1st), many restrictions were lifted, and the vaccination items) emotions related to forced distance education with
program also covered young adults. a 4-point scale ranging from ‘‘not at all’’ (1) to ‘‘to a
great degree’’ (4). These emotions were selected from the
PANAS scale, which measures Positive and Negative
Method Affectivity, that is, emotions and feelings (Watson et al.,
1988). Positive emotions included such feelings as
Procedure
‘‘Comfortable,’’ ‘‘Easy,’’ ‘‘Fun,’’ ‘‘Peaceful,’’ and
An internet-based survey was distributed among students ‘‘Relaxing’’ while negative emotions included feelings of
of social sciences in March-April 2021 (sample 1) and being ‘‘Bored,’’ ‘‘Depressed,’’ ‘‘Frustrated,’’ ‘‘Lonely,’’
November 2021 (sample 2). Hence, the first sample was and ‘‘Exhausted.’’ Earlier studies show that PANAS
collected when all studies were the distance, and the sec- scales correlate with Big-5 factors Neuroticism and
ond sample was collected when the vast majority of stud- Extraversion (Burger & Caldwell, 2000; Dı́az-Garcı́a
ies were face-to-face (after November 1st, 2021). Because et al., 2020) while being both conceptually and empiri-
of the drastic difference in students’ situations, the stu- cally distinct constructs. The reliability for the positive
dents had a very different perspectives on forced distance affectivity scale was 0.78 and for the negative affectivity
learning. In April/May 2021, the situation with pandemic scale 0.83, indicating a satisfactory level of internal
was alarming, and students had no chance but to study consistency.
from a distance. The COVID-19 full vaccination rate in
4th of April 2021, was 5.4% and the vaccination pro- COVID-19 Related Behaviours and Distance
gram had not reached young adults (Ritchie et al., 2020). Education. COVID-19 related precautionary behaviors
In November, the situation was different in many (e.g., ‘‘using a face mask’’) were measured with 10 items
senses: lectures were moved back to classrooms, the developed for the present study. The respondents were
infection rate was relatively low and hopes for the pan- asked how often they followed each of the 10 behaviors
demic to end high. The full vaccination rate was 68.0% with a 5-point scale ranging from ‘‘never’’ (1) to
and the vaccination program had been extended to uni- ‘‘always.’’ The reliability of the COVID-19 behavior
versity students (Ritchie et al., 2020). The health authori- scale was 0.86.
ties provided easy ways to get vaccinated such as a The respondents were also asked the share of studying
vaccination bus and the vaccinations were actively pro- at home and studying away from home (e.g., at univer-
moted by the university. The Omicron variant had not sity, libraries) answers ranging from ‘‘almost never from
yet been discussed in the media. home’’ to ‘‘almost always from home.’’ In addition to the
4 SAGE Open

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for Sample 1 and Sample 2.

Sample 1 Sample 2
Variable M SD M SD tdf

Times studied in the distance. 4.61 0.88 4.38 0.98 1.75194

Possibility to choose between distance and face-to-face 3.57 0.76 3.20 0.92 2.99194*
COVID-19 precautionary behaviors 3.54 0.81 3.11 0.62 3.90194**
Negative emotions 2.89 0.77 2.89 0.74 –0.05194
Positive emotions 2.80 0.71 2.89 0.60 –0.90194
Extraversion 3.22 1.02 3.15 0.96 0.48186
Agreeableness 3.87 0.96 4.30 0.53 –3.51186**
Conscientiousness 3.57 0.85 3.59 0.85 –0.14186
Neuroticism 3.06 0.92 3.12 0.75 –0.50186
Openness to experience 3.58 0.99 4.07 0.73 –3.63186**
SOC 4.32 0.94 4.21 0.87 0.86193

*p\.01. **p\.001.

frequency of distance studying, the respondents were in Spring 2021, the situation with the pandemic was
asked to what degree they have a chance to choose much worse than in November. Moreover, the vaccine
whether to study at home or at school with a four-point was not available for the age group in Spring 2021, and,
scale (from ‘‘not at all’’ to ‘‘yes, as often as I want’’). therefore, the motivation to avoid COVID-19 infection
was higher.
Five-Factor Model of Personality. Big-5 factors of person- Table 1 shows that no difference was found in positive
ality factors (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness, and negative emotions related to forced distance educa-
Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism) were measured tion between Sample 1 and Sample 2. Interestingly, the
with a 20-item mini-IPIP scale (Donnellan et al., 2006). negative emotions associated with distance education did
The reliability coeffects for Extraversion, Agreeableness, not differ from positive emotions, t195 = 0.59, p = .553.
Openness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism were This means that forced distance education evokes posi-
0.85, 0.76, 0.80, 0.71, and 0.71, respectively. tive and negative emotions to the same degree.

Sense of Coherence. Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence

concept (Antonovsky, 1996) was measured with a 12- Relationships Between Emotions Related to Distance
item Orientation to Life Questionnaire (Feldt & Rasku, Education and COVID-19 Related Variables,
1998). The OLQ measures how manageable, meaningful, Personality Factors and Sense of Coherence
and understandable the respondent finds his/her life. In
Table 2 shows Pearson product-moment correlations
that sense, OLQ combines meaningfulness with self-effi-
between emotions (positive and negative) related to dis-
cacy. The OLQ scale shows an acceptable level of inter-
tance education and the other variables included in the
nal consistency in the present sample (Cronbach’s
study. In Sample 1, the possibility to choose between dis-
alpha = .80).
tance and face-to-face education correlated with positive
emotions. These results could indicate that possibility to
Results choose distance education increases positive emotions
when the risk of infection is high (since no vaccination
Comparison Between Sample 1 and Sample 2 was available and the number of daily cases was high).
The two samples were compared by using a t-test. Extraversion and Agreeableness had (non-significant)
Table 1 shows that the pre-vaccine sample estimated negative correlations with positive emotions, whereas
their chance to choose between distance studies and SOC and Openness to Experience had (non-significant)
studying at school as higher than the post-vaccine sam- positive correlations to positive emotions. Agreeableness
ple. This is somewhat surprising since, in April 2021, had a statistically significant (positive) correlation with
most of the classes were based on distance learning and negative emotions. Also, Extraversion and Neuroticism
in November on face-to-face education. correlated positively with negative emotions, but these
Table 1 also shows that the spring 2021 sample was correlations did not reach statistical significance. SOC
following recommended behaviors more often than and Openness to Experience had negative (non-signifi-
November 2021 sample. This is understandable because, cant) correlations to negative emotions. The positive
Lajunen et al. 5

Table 2. Pearson Product-Moment Correlations Between Negative and Positive Emotions and Study Variables.

Sample 1 Sample 2
Variables Negative Positive Negative Positive

Age –0.01 0.18 –0.20 0.04

Gender 0.13 0.14 –0.07 0.24*
Times studied in distance 0.03 0.01 –0.16 0.22
Possibility to choose between distance and face–to–face –0.02 0.30** –0.17 –0.01
COVID-19 precautionary behaviors 0.08 0.13 –0.06 0.11
Extraversion 0.18 –0.15 –0.04 –0.06
Agreeableness 0.43** –0.13 –0.06 –0.06
Conscientiousness 0.01 0.03 –0.20 0.13
Neuroticism 0.11 0.02 0.23* –0.17
Openness to experience –0.11 0.07 0.12 –0.01
SOC –0.14 0.11 –0.29* 0.21

*p\.05. **p\.01.

Table 3. Predictors of Negative Emotions Related to Distance Education: Hierarchical Regression Analysis.

Variables B Std. Error Beta t

Age –0.02 0.01 –0.13 –1.60

Gender –0.11 0.14 –0.06 –0.76
Times studied in distance 0.00 0.07 0.00 –0.02
Possibility to choose between distance and face-to-face –0.01 0.08 –0.01 –0.15
COVID-19 precautionary behaviors –0.03 0.09 –0.03 –0.30
Extraversion 0.02 0.06 0.02 0.25
Agreeableness 0.35 0.09 0.38 3.95**
Conscientiousness –0.11 0.08 –0.12 –1.39
Neuroticism 0.01 0.09 0.01 0.09
Openness to experience –0.19 0.08 –0.22 –2.51*
SOC –0.14 0.09 –0.17 –1.58

Note. r2 = 0.15.
*p\.05. **p\.001.

correlation between Agreeableness and negative emo- that it correlated positively with negative emotions in
tions may be based on the fact that agreeable people like both samples. It is possible that the effects of
being in close contact with friends and emotional shar- Neuroticism on negative emotions are moderated by the
ing, which is not as easy in distance learning as in face- situation so that in the riskier stage of the pandemic in
to-face situations. Therefore, forced distance learning March-April, forced distance education is perceived
and avoidance of close contacts is experienced negatively more necessary than in November. SOC seems to protect
among people scoring high in Agreeableness. the individual against negative affectivity related to
In Sample 2, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and neuro- forced distance education. This was especially visible in
ticism correlated negatively and conscientiousness and Sample 2.
SOC positively with positive emotions, but the correla-
tions were not statistically significant. Extraversion,
Predictors of Distance Learning-Related Negative and
Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness correlated nega-
tively but non-significantly with negative emotions. Positive Emotions: Regression Analyses
Openness to Experience correlated positively but non- In the first regression analysis, negative emotions related
significantly with negative experiences. Neuroticism had to forced distance education were used as the dependent
a statistically significant positive correlation, and SOC variable. To reach a larger sample size, Sample 1 and
had a statistically significant negative correlation with Sample 2 were merged.
negative emotions. Neuroticism is characterized by emo- Table 3 shows that the variables included in the model
tional instability and negativity, so it is understandable accounted for 15% of the variance in negative emotions.
6 SAGE Open

Table 4. Predictors of Positive Emotions Related to Distance Education: Hierarchical Regression Analysis.

Variables B Std. Error Beta t

Age 0.02 0.01 0.16 1.92

Gender 0.29 0.13 0.19 2.26*
Times studied in distance –0.01 0.06 –0.02 –0.20
Possibility to choose between distance and face–to–face 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.87
COVID-19 precautionary behaviors 0.03 0.08 0.04 0.40
Extraversion –0.09 0.06 –0.13 –1.57
Agreeableness –0.19 0.08 –0.23 –2.37*
Conscientiousness 0.04 0.07 0.06 0.63
Neuroticism –0.01 0.09 –0.01 –0.06
Openness to experience 0.16 0.07 0.20 2.31*
SOC 0.15 0.08 0.19 1.78

Note. r2 = 0.14.
*p\.05.

Personality characteristic ‘‘Agreeableness’’ was positively Earlier studies have demonstrated the negative effects
and ‘‘Openness to Experience’’ negatively related to nega- of distance learning on students’ concentration and abil-
tive emotions. ity to organize their studies (Commodari & La Rosa,
In the second regression analysis, positive emotions 2021; Giusti et al., 2021) and time management (Zapata-
related to forced distance education were used as the Garibay et al., 2021). A common impression among stu-
dependent variable. Table 4 shows that the variables dents and educators is that forced distance learning has
included in the model accounted for 14% of the variance negative effects on students’ motivation and mood. In
in positive emotions. Personality characteristic the present study, however, the negative affect score did
‘‘Agreeableness’’ was negatively, and ‘‘Openness to not differ from the positive affect score when measured
Experience’’ positively related to positive emotions. with PANAS items (Watson et al., 1988). Since PANAS
Sense of Coherence (SOC) was positively related to posi- has been validated in numerous studies and also showed
tive emotions, although the effect was not statistically high reliability in the present study, this finding means
significant (p = .077). that forced distance learning evokes negative emotions to
the same degree as positive emotions. While some stu-
dents might find distance learning boring, difficult to
Discussion concentrate and often too lonely, other students might
COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries to enjoy the benefits such as time-saving, flexibility and
adopt restraint measures to control and to slow down independence. A recently published Swedish study inves-
the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to tigated people’s answers to the question, ‘‘During the
measures related to work-life, public transportation, and past 24 hours, is there anything that has made you feel
public events, many countries like Sweden have adopted good or helped you in your life?’’ among 693 respondents
restrictions to education at universities. Until November (Eklund et al., 2022). The study showed that psychologi-
1st, Swedish universities, including the Gothenburg cal responses were ‘‘not all negative or all positive’’
University, had most of the lectures as distance educa- (Eklund et al., 2022). In this study, similarly, both posi-
tion. After November 1st, the restrictions were removed tive and negative emotions were felt in internet-based
gradually, and most of the educational activities started forced distance learning.
to return to campus. In the present study, samples were The results of the present study might indicate that a
collected in March-April 2021 and in November 2021 in student’s personality characteristics influence the way
order to study if the different pandemic situation was how she/he feels about distance learning. Earlier studies
reflected on students’ perception of forced distance edu- show that student-related characteristics such as age and
cation. While in March-April 2021, the pandemic situa- gender (Buško & Bezinović, 2021), cognitive strategies
tion was difficult with a high number of daily infections, and learning style (Baherimoghadam et al., 2021;
in November 2021, Sweden had one of the lowest infec- Fernández Cruz et al., 2020), and social and emotional
tion rates in the European Union. In addition, vaccina- flexibility (Valieva & Ivanova, 2020) influence how stu-
tions were available for the age group, unlike in March- dents cope with distance learning. Such personality as
April 2021. Therefore, a comparison of these two sam- proneness to anxiety (a component of Neuroticism) has
ples was assumed to reflect differences in the pandemic. been found to have a negative effect on coping with
Lajunen et al. 7

distance learning (Eshet et al., 2021; Steinberger et al., (Li et al., 2021). In the present study, SOC was nega-
2021; Valieva & Ivanova, 2020). In the present study, the tively related to negative emotions and positively related
relationship between the main personality factors mea- to positive emotions, although the relationships were not
sured with the Five-Factor Model of Personality statistically significant in both samples. One explanation
(Donnellan et al., 2006) and emotions related to distance for the relatively weak relationships between SOC and
learning was studied. The regression analysis results emotions in the present study might be that we measured
showed that the Big-5 factors Openness to Experience the total SOC instead of the individual components of
and Agreeableness were related to negative and positive SOC, that is, meaningfulness, manageability, and com-
affects related to distance learning. The results were very prehensibility. In earlier studies especially the sense of
coherent and understandable: Agreeableness was posi- meaningfulness has been an important predictor of men-
tively related to negative emotions and negatively related tal health and coping with stress in schools during the
to positive emotions. Agreeable people are characterized COVID-19 pandemic (Misamer et al., 2021;
by being overly friendly and enjoying emotional Padmanabhanunni et al., 2022). Unfortunately, the
exchange in personal one-to-one relationships. People shortness of the SOC measure used in the present study
scoring high in Agreeableness actually get emotional did not allow the use of SOC components separately. In
satisfaction mostly from these encounters with friends future studies among university students, a longer ver-
and family members. In such applications as Zoom or sion of the SOC instrument (e.g., the 29-item SOC)
Teams, these personal encounters are much more diffi- should be used so that reliable sub-scale scores can be
cult and emotional sharing much more superficial than calculated.
in face-to-face meetings. Facial expressions are more dif-
ficult to detect, and touching the other person is not pos- Conclusions
sible. Therefore, it is not a surprise that Agreeableness
increases the likelihood of negative and decreases the This study shows that emotional responses in the two dif-
likelihood of positive emotions in distance education. ferent stages of higher education during the COVID-19
The other personality characteristic significantly pandemic (forced distance learning vs face-to-face) did
related to emotions evoked by distance learning was not differ from each other. Opposite to general beliefs,
Openness to Experience. Openness to Experience was the students felt both positive and negative emotions
positively related to positive emotions and negatively related to internet-based distance learning. In fact, the
related to negative emotions. Openness to experience is total score of positive emotions was exactly the same as
characterized by curiosity and creativity. The protective the score of negative emotions. Distance learning—even
effect of Openness to Experience could be explained by forced one—has both positive and negative effects. These
the fact that people scoring high in Openness are inde- effects depend on students’ personality characteristics to
pendent and often eccentric people following their own some degree. Students scoring high in Agreeableness
interests. Distance learning provides more freedom than showed more negative and less positive emotionality
classroom teaching, and these self-directed and indepen- than low scoring students. Openness to Experience had
dent people may actually enjoy that freedom. the opposite effects on emotionality as Agreeableness.
Earlier studies emphasize the importance of resilience The Sense of Coherence might reduce the negative effects
on performance in distance learning settings (Valieva & of forced distance learning.
Ivanova, 2020). In the present study, resilience was mea-
sured with the Sense of Coherence, which is composed of Acknowledgments
experiencing one’s life as meaningful, manageable, and We would like to thank Saga Stenberg for helping with transla-
comprehensible (Antonovsky, 1996; Feldt & Rasku, tion to Swedish and data collection.
1998). It was assumed that a person with a high Sense of
Coherence would find meaning also in the COVID-19
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
distancing, understand its necessity, and manage one’s
life in the new situation. In earlier studies, SOC has been The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
related to lower levels of COVID-19 pandemic related to
article.
stress, anxiety, and depression among students (Li et al.,
2021; Misamer et al., 2021; Shorey et al., 2022). In addi-
tion, SOC seems to reduce COVID-19 related fears Funding
among teachers (Padmanabhanunni et al., 2022) and The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
help to adjust to the post-covid face-to-face education authorship, and/or publication of this article.
8 SAGE Open

Ethics Statement Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., & Lucas, R. E.
Not applicable according to the rules of Norwegian Centre for (2006). The mini-IPIP scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of
Research Data (NSD). Since the study was conducted on the the big five factors of personality. Psychological Assessment,
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