Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336638 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Citation: 
[Journal:] Social Psychological and Personality Science [ISSN:] 1948-5514 [Issue:] OnlineFirst [Publisher:] Sage [Place:] Thousand Oaks, CA [Year:] 2026 [Pages:] 1-13
Publisher: 
Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA
Abstract: 
Civic engagement is essential for responding to societal crises, yet only some people take action. This study investigates how personality is connected to who engages during a crisis and how they engage. We analyzed the reactions of German civil society to the war in Ukraine to examine how the Big Five traits and empathy relate to benevolent (e.g., volunteering or donating) and activist (e.g., protesting) engagement. To test the robustness of our effects, we analyzed immediate (within the first 3 months of the war), late (8–15 months after the beginning of the war), and sustained (both immediate and late) engagement. In a longitudinal sample ( N > 700), hierarchical regressions showed that personality and empathy were associated with immediate, late, and sustained engagement. Extraversion, openness, and empathy positively predicted both benevolent and activist engagement; conscientiousness had negative effects on both engagement forms.
Subjects: 
civic engagement
political engagement
Big Five
empathy
crisis
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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