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- Title
Does medical students’ personality have an impact on their intention to show empathic behavior?
- Authors
Seitz, Tamara; Längle, Angelika S.; Seidman, Charles; Löffler-Stastka, Henriette
- Abstract
Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between specific personal traits and empathy. However, it is not clear if persons with certain personality traits lack the intent to show empathic behavior or if other factors independent of their intent are affecting their empathic behavior. To answer this question, we asked 132 medical students to fill out questionnaires evaluating the General Intention to Show Empathic Behavior (GISEB) and the five personality traits measured by NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Additionally, we evaluated the influence of other factors, such as age, gender, curricular progress (second versus fourth year), and preferred specialization after graduation. We performed a Pearson’s correlation and a regression analysis. Results indicate that the five personality traits and gender have little influence on the General Intention (GISEB), only extraversion (r = .221, 95% CI [.013-.394], p = .027), and agreeableness (r = .229, 95% CI [.021-.428], p = .022) correlated with the intention. The only predictor for General Intention (GISEB) was curricular progress (β = − .27, p < .05), showing a decrease of General Intention to Show Empathic Behavior from second to fourth year of university (U = 1203.5, p = .002). A further finding indicates that gender and personality influence the students’ wish of specialization after graduation: Agreeableness (F(12, 53) = 2.376, p = .016) impacted the preferred specialization. Our study demonstrated that medical students’ personality might not notably impact the intention to show empathic behavior. Further research is needed to investigate moderating effects.
- Subjects
AGE distribution; COLLEGE graduates; CONFIDENCE intervals; STATISTICAL correlation; CURRICULUM planning; EMPATHY; INTENTION; PSYCHOLOGY of medical students; QUESTIONNAIRES; REGRESSION analysis; SEX distribution; UNIVERSITIES &; colleges
- Publication
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 2018, Vol 21, Issue 6, p611
- ISSN
1434-1816
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00737-018-0837-y