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Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Empathy promotes positive physician-patient communication and is associated with improved patient satisfaction, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that personality traits should be taken into consideration in programs designed to enhance empathy in medical education due to the association found between personality and empathy among medical students. However, the associations between empathy and big five personality traits in medical education are still underrepresented in the existing literature and relevant studies have not been conducted among medical students in China, where tensions in the physician-patient relationship have been reported as outstanding problems in the context of China's current medical reform. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese medical students. METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical university in Northeast China in June 2016. Self-reported questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) and demographic characteristics were distributed. A total of 530 clinical medical students became our final subjects. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the effects of big five personality traits on empathy. RESULTS:Results of this study showed that big five personality traits accounted for 19.4%, 18.1%, 30.2% of the variance in three dimensions of empathy, namely, perspective taking, empathic concern and personal distress, respectively. Specifically, agreeableness had a strong positive association with empathic concern (? = 0.477, P<0.01), and a moderate association with perspective taking (? = 0.349, P<0.01). Neuroticism was strongly associated with personal distress (? = 0.526, P<0.01) and modestly associated with perspective taking (? = 0.149, P<0.01). Openness to experience had modest associations with perspective taking (? = 0.150, P<0.01) and personal distress (? = -0.160, P<0.01). Conscientiousness had a modest association with perspective taking (? = 0.173, P<0.01). CONCLUSION:This study revealed that big five personality traits were important predictors of self-reported measures of both cognitive and affective empathy among Chinese medical students. Therefore, individualized intervention strategies based on personality traits could be integrated into programs to enhance empathy in medical education.

SUBMITTER: Song Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5302826 | biostudies-other | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students.

Song Yang Y Shi Meng M

PloS one 20170210 2

<h4>Background</h4>Empathy promotes positive physician-patient communication and is associated with improved patient satisfaction, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that personality traits should be taken into consideration in programs designed to enhance empathy in medical education due to the association found between personality and empathy among medical students. However, the associations between empathy and big five personality traits in medical education are ...[more]

PMID: 28187194

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Project description:While the number of studies of the non-medical use of prescription drugs to augment cognitive functions is growing steadily, psychological factors that can potentially help explain variance in such pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement (CE) behavior are often neglected in research. This study investigates the association between the Big Five personality traits and a retrospective (prior CE-drug use) as well as a prospective (willingness to use CE drugs) measure of taking prescription drugs with the purpose of augmenting one's cognitive functions (e.g., concentration, memory, or vigilance) without medical necessity. We use data from a large representative survey of German employees (N = 6454, response rate = 29.8%). The Five Factor Model (FFM) of Personality was measured with a short version of the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory (BFI-S), which includes: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Together with this, demographic variables such as gender, age, education, and income were used as potential confounders in multiple logistic regression models. Our results show a 2.96% lifetime prevalence of CE-drug use and a 10.45% willingness to (re)use such drugs in the future. We found that less conscientious and more neurotic respondents have a higher probability of prior CE-drug use and a greater willingness to use CE drugs in the future. No significant effects were found for openness, extraversion, or agreeableness. Prior CE-drug use was strongly associated with a greater willingness to take such drugs in the future. This study shows that specific personality traits are not only associated with prior enhancement behavior, but also affect the willingness to (re)use such drugs. It helps increase understanding of the risk factors of CE-drug use, which is a health-related behavior that can entail severe side-effects for consumers. The knowledge gathered can thus help improve interventions aimed at minimizing health problems.

Project description:BackgroundOver the past 10 years, gamer profiles have been developed to understand the reason underlying players' intrinsic motivation. While the research undertaken has led to the creation of distinct models (e.g., BrainHex and Hexad typologies), there is a lack of studies on the prevalence of these profiles among a specific population and the association between the target population's profiles and their personality traits, gaming behavior, and sociodemographic characteristics.MethodsThus, the present study aimed to (a) establish the gamer profiles of French undergraduate law students, (b) examine the relationships between the participants' profiles and their personality traits, gaming behavior, and sociodemographic characteristics, with a view to the development of serious games specifically intended for this population. In total, 753 French undergraduate students participated in the study, completing an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), chi-square, and ANOVA.ResultsThe main findings show that among participants, the two most prevalent gamers' profiles are Mastermind (45%) and Seeker (22.7%); followed by three less represented archetypes: Conqueror (12.9%), Daredevil (9.7%), and Achiever (9.7%). These archetypes are associated with the participants' Big Five personality traits. Specifically, Daredevils, Masterminds, and Seekers have high mean scores on Extraversion (p < .001); Achievers and Seekers have high mean scores on Agreeableness (p < .001); Seekers and Achievers have high mean scores on Neuroticism (p < .001); and Seekers, Masterminds, and Achievers have high mean scores on Openness (p < .001). The unveiled profiles are also significantly associated with the participants' gaming behavior including their playing frequency (p < .001), game types (p = .031), and sociodemographic characteristics (p < .001). For example, Masterminds are more likely to be female than the other four profiles (p < .001), while Conquerors and Daredevils are more likely to have a low socio-economic status compared to those with intermediate and high socio-economic status (p = .49).ConclusionThese findings can be used to design serious/educational games tailored to the studied population.

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Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students.

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Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students.

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