Resilient or Vulnerable? Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Mental Health of Refugees in Germany.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic had consequences for the whole society, like during most crises, some population groups tended to be disproportionally affected. We rely on the most recent data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees to explore the resilience or vulnerability of refugees in the face of the pandemic. As the 2020 wave of the survey was in the field when the second nationwide lockdown started in December, we are able to apply a regression discontinuity design to analyze how refugees in Germany are coping with these measures. Our results reveal a negative effect of the lockdown on refugees' life satisfaction. Male refugees and those with a weaker support system face stronger negative outcomes than their counterparts. Since mental health is an important prerequisite for all forms of integration, understanding the related psychological needs in times of crisis can be highly important for policymakers and other stakeholders.

Personality Traits and Further Training.

The notion of lifelong learning is gaining importance, not only in the labor market but also in other areas of modern societies. Previous research finds variation in occupation-related training participation by worker and workplace characteristics, gender, and education. However, evidence on the individual's socio-emotional skills creating favorable conditions for overall further training is scarce. To close this research gap, we analyze the role of personality for further training participation. First, we compare how the Big Five Personality Dimensions relate to different training types by differentiating between non-formal and informal training measures. Second, we investigate how personality traits affect further training chosen for occupational and private reasons separately. Drawing on a sample of 10,559 individuals from the Adult Stage of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we find that throughout our estimations, openness to experience positively relates to further training participation and is the most important determinant among the Big Five Personality Dimensions. However, the relationship between personality traits and training participation varies according to the training type and the reason for participating in further training. Moreover, we find gender-specific differences in the association between personality traits and lifelong learning. We conclude that personality is an important predictor of lifelong learning decisions.