Big Five personality traits and exercise behavior during public health emergencies: The mediating role of sport commitment

This study aimed to examine the associations among Big Five personality traits, sport commitment, and exercise behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was treated as a public health emergency. Using snowball sampling, we distributed a questionnaire comprising the Chinese Big Five Inventory–Brief Version, the Revised Sport Commitment Scale for Exercise Contexts, and the Exercise Behavior Scale. A total of 3,634 valid responses were analyzed. Group differences and correlations were examined using SPSS 23.0, and structural equation modeling was conducted in AMO S24 to examine the mediating role of sport commitment. Significant gender differences were observed in all five personality dimensions and all indicators of exercise behavior. Among the sport commitment dimensions, no significant gender difference was found in involvement opportunities ( p = 0.919). Exercise behavior was not significantly associated with agreeableness ( p = 0.319), and openness was not significantly associated with sport commitment ( p = 0.427). Neuroticism was negatively associated with both sport commitment and exercise behavior. Sport commitment partially mediated the associations of neuroticism and extraversion with exercise behavior and showed a suppression effect in the conscientiousness model. For individuals with higher neuroticism, strategies to promote physical activity could address barriers associated with neuroticism or strengthen sport commitment. For individuals with lower extraversion, interventions that facilitate social engagement or strengthen sport commitment may promote physical activity. The suppression effect in the conscientiousness model further suggests that strengthening sport commitment may help translate conscientious tendencies into exercise behavior during public health emergencies.