-
International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2021Personality is one of the most crucial aspects of human life, since it influences all human behaviours in both personal and social life, and might also trigger important... (Review)
Review
Personality is one of the most crucial aspects of human life, since it influences all human behaviours in both personal and social life, and might also trigger important conflicts with a person's surroundings in the setting of incompatible traits and characteristics. It is true that 'one must be born' for a certain medical specialty, but several components of personality might be educated with proper training. Increased levels of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness associated with lower levels of Neuroticism might represent the key combination for achieving professional satisfaction in the medical profession. Medical students should receive proper interprofessional education, since effective interprofessional relationships among healthcare providers definitely improve patients' safety. Empathy contributes to effective patient-physician communication, improving patient trust, compliance, and satisfaction, being positively correlated with Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Extraversion. Emotional intelligence-the capacity to respond to one's own and others' emotions-was proven to contribute, in a synergistic way with empathy, to increasing empathic ability. Clinical communication skills represent a key component in medical students in order to achieve the best patient care, and they are certainly related and/or influenced by empathy, interprofessional collaboration skills, emotional intelligence and, especially, personality traits. Taking into account the complex interactions mentioned above, the implementation of effective courses based on these concepts in medical students, intending to promote the development of clinical communication skills, represents a real emergency, since it might result in a reduction in medical errors and subsequent related deaths. A thorough understanding of students' personality is mandatory before designing these courses in order to provide a training tailored to their personality styles.
Topics: Emotional Intelligence; Empathy; Extraversion, Psychological; Humans; Personality; Students, Medical
PubMed: 34886548
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312822 -
Journal of Personality Jun 2023How do genetic and environmental processes affect empathy during early adolescence? This study illuminated this question by examining the aetiology of empathy with the...
OBJECTIVE
How do genetic and environmental processes affect empathy during early adolescence? This study illuminated this question by examining the aetiology of empathy with the aetiology of other personality characteristics.
METHOD
Israeli twin adolescents rated their empathy and personality at ages 11 (N = 1176) and 13 (N = 821) (733 families, 51.4% females). Parents rated adolescents' emotional empathy. Adolescents performed an emotion recognition task, indicating cognitive empathy.
RESULTS
Using a cross-validated statistical learning algorithm, this study found emotional and cognitive "empathic personality profiles," which describe and predict self-reported empathy from nuanced Big-Five personality characteristics, or "nuances" (i.e., individual items). These profiles predicted empathy moderately (R = 0.17-0.24) and were stable and robust, within each age and between ages. They also predicted empathy in a new sample of older nontwin adolescents (N = 96) and were validated against non-self-report empathy measures. Both emotional and cognitive empathy were predicted by nuances representing positive attitudes toward others, trust, forgiveness, and openness to experiences. Emotional empathy was also predicted by nuances representing anxiousness and negative reactivity. Twin analyses revealed overlapping genetic and environmental influences on empathy and the empathic personality profiles and overlapping environmental influences on empathy-personality change.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates how addressing the complexity of individuals' personalities can inform adolescents' empathy development.
Topics: Female; Humans; Adolescent; Child; Male; Empathy; Personality; Emotions; Personality Disorders; Self Report
PubMed: 36047899
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12772 -
Annals of Clinical Psychiatry :... May 2023Trichotillomania (TTM) and skin picking disorder (SPD) result in significant psychosocial burden. Despite this burden, however, risk factors related to the development...
BACKGROUND
Trichotillomania (TTM) and skin picking disorder (SPD) result in significant psychosocial burden. Despite this burden, however, risk factors related to the development of these disorders remain unclear. The present study assessed temperament in a well-characterized sample of adults with TTM or SPD.
METHODS
A total of 202 adults age 18 to 65 were enrolled; 44 had TTM, 30 had SPD, and 128 served as controls. Participants completed the self-report Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) to examine the severity of TTM and SPD symptoms, quality of life, and temperament. Group differences were characterized and correlations with other measures were examined.
RESULTS
Compared to controls, those with TTM or SPD scored significantly higher on harm avoidance and its subscales, with TTM associated with higher scores than SPD. Those with TTM or SPD scored significantly higher on only 1 measure of novelty seeking (extravagance). Higher TPQ harm avoidance correlated with worse hair pulling severity and worse quality of life.
CONCLUSIONS
The temperament traits of participants with TTM or SPD differed in significant ways from controls; those with TTM or SPD generally demonstrated similar trait profiles. A dimensional approach to the personalities of those with TTM or SPD may offer insight and provide clues to treatment strategies.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Adolescent; Young Adult; Middle Aged; Aged; Trichotillomania; Temperament; Quality of Life; Personality Disorders; Personality
PubMed: 37074974
DOI: 10.12788/acp.0096 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Oct 2020Previous research suggests that challenging temperament characteristics (i.e., low mood, irritability and rigidity) are associated with risk for the development of...
BACKGROUND
Previous research suggests that challenging temperament characteristics (i.e., low mood, irritability and rigidity) are associated with risk for the development of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder (PBD). This study aimed to investigate the connection between PBD and discrete dimensions of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality.
METHODS
Youth diagnosed with PBD I, II, or NOS, at high risk for the disorder (BD-HR) and healthy controls were recruited from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. Researchers administered a personality inventory and evaluated current mood state.
RESULTS
BD and BD-HR youth scored lower in Emotional Regulation than did HC youth (F (3, 70) = 10.75, p < .001). Within the BD and BD-HR groups, youth with high depression scores scored lower on Extraversion (F (3, 70) = 8.62, p < .001) and Conscientiousness (F (3, 70) = 4.53, p < .01).
LIMITATIONS
A major limitation of this study is its cross-sectional design, precluding analysis of whether certain traits or clusters of traits predict PBD or other mood disorders.
CONCLUSIONS
Low Emotional Regulation, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness were associated with PBD; this personality profile clinically corresponds with youth diagnosed with PBD who present with difficulty regulating their emotions, vulnerability to stress, and emotional reactivity. Future research examining personality characteristics in PBD may elucidate further a specific profile to aid clinicians in developing psychosocial interventions for youth with and at high risk of developing PBD.
Topics: Adolescent; Bipolar Disorder; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Extraversion, Psychological; Humans; Personality; Psychosocial Intervention
PubMed: 32734924
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.007 -
Acta Psychologica Nov 2022Previous studies have looked at the associations between personality traits and illegal drug use in people across various age groups and in various countries. However,...
Previous studies have looked at the associations between personality traits and illegal drug use in people across various age groups and in various countries. However, much less is known about how personality traits relate to illegal drug use in young people aged between 16 and 21 in the context of the United Kingdom, who are in a unique developmental period that is more vulnerable to illegal drugs. Moreover, previous studies have only looked at the relationship between personality traits and illegal drug use status, and less much is known about how personality traits relate to drug use frequency. The current study analyzed the data by using a binary and ordinal logistic regression to analyze responses from 775 young drug users and 2757 young non-drug users from UKHLS. The results found that Neuroticism, Openness, and Extraversion are positively related to ever illegal drug use whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness are negatively associated with ever illegal drug use during the past year. However, only Agreeableness, Openness, and Conscientiousness were associated with the frequency of illegal drug use. To conclude, the current study contributes to theories that propose illegal drug use is a result of personality traits such as the self-derogation theory and the problem behavior theory, which propose that substance use is a result of personality. Psychologists might use this information as a method to identify potential populations who are at risk of taking illegal drugs, which may benefit preventive interventions that can reduce illegal drug use in young people. Future studies should use more objective measures, examine different types of drug use, and test these associations in other cultures.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Young Adult; Adult; Extraversion, Psychological; Personality; Neuroticism; Substance-Related Disorders; Illicit Drugs
PubMed: 36368191
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103794 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2022Personality is a strong determinant for several health-related behaviours and has been linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases. However, the reports of...
Personality is a strong determinant for several health-related behaviours and has been linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases. However, the reports of personality's mediating role have been inconsistent with no data available from large population-based cohorts. The study aimed to create proxies for the Big Five personality traits, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness and neuroticism, to examine the longitudinal relationship between personality and myocardial infarction in the UK Biobank. The study sample comprised of 484,205 participants (55% female, 45% male, mean age 56.4 ± 8.1 years) from UK Biobank cohort with a mean follow-up of 7 years. The personality proxies sociability, warmth, diligence, curiosity and nervousness were created using self-reported data on psychological factors, mental health and social support, to match the facets of the Big Five traits. As neuroticism is the only Big Five personality trait available in the UK Biobank, it was included to validate the personality proxies. Myocardial infarction outcome information was collected from hospital records, death registries or was self-reported. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard regression were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratios (HR), respectively with 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for demographics (age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity), health-related factors (BMI, diabetes, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and lifestyle factors (alcohol intake, smoking, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity). Diligence was found to be significantly associated with lower prevalent myocardial infarction [OR: 0.87; (CI 0.84-0.89)] and lower incident myocardial infarction [HR: 0.88; (CI 0.85-0.92)]. Sociability was also protective against prevalent [OR: 0.89; (CI 0.87-0.92)] and incident [HR: 0.90; (CI 0.87-0.93)] myocardial infarction. Conversely, nervousness inferred a higher risk for both prevalent [OR: 1.10; (CI 1.08-1.12)] and incident [HR: 1.07; (CI 1.04-1.09)] myocardial infarction during follow-up. Sex-stratified analyses revealed that nervousness significantly increases the risk for incident myocardial infarction among women [HR: 1.13; (CI 1.08-1.19)] compared to men [HR: 1.05; (CI 1.02-1.08)]. By using our created proxies, we were able to investigate the impact of personality on the development of myocardial infarction. Persons with higher levels of diligence and sociability mimicking predominantly conscientiousness and extraversion personalities respectively are less likely to experience myocardial infarction, while personalities predominantly characterised by nervousness pose higher risk for developing myocardial infarction. These initial findings invite further validation of the use of the personality proxies in UK Biobank cohort.
Topics: Biological Specimen Banks; Cohort Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Myocardial Infarction; Personality; United Kingdom
PubMed: 35468914
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10573-6 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2018Human wellbeing is influenced by personality traits, in particular neuroticism and extraversion. Little is known about which facets that drive these associations, and...
Human wellbeing is influenced by personality traits, in particular neuroticism and extraversion. Little is known about which facets that drive these associations, and the role of genes and environments. Our aim was to identify personality facets that are important for life satisfaction, and to estimate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors in the association between personality and life satisfaction. Norwegian twins (N = 1,516, age 50-65, response rate 71%) responded to a personality instrument (NEO-PI-R) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Regression analyses and biometric modeling were used to examine influences from personality traits and facets, and to estimate genetic and environmental contributions. Neuroticism and extraversion explained 24%, and personality facets accounted for 32% of the variance in life satisfaction. Four facets were particularly important; anxiety and depression in the neuroticism domain, and activity and positive emotions within extraversion. Heritability of life satisfaction was 0.31 (0.22-0.40), of which 65% was explained by personality-related genetic influences. The remaining genetic variance was unique to life satisfaction. The association between personality and life satisfaction is driven mainly by four, predominantly emotional, personality facets. Genetic factors play an important role in these associations, but influence life satisfaction also beyond the effects of personality.
Topics: Aged; Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorder; Emotions; Extraversion, Psychological; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuroticism; Personal Satisfaction; Personality; Personality Disorders; Regression Analysis
PubMed: 30120258
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29881-x -
Journal of Abnormal Psychology Aug 2021Over the past two decades, interest in the relationship between personality and psychopathology has resurged. However, the clinical problem of adult separation anxiety...
Over the past two decades, interest in the relationship between personality and psychopathology has resurged. However, the clinical problem of adult separation anxiety (ASA) has been largely excluded from this endeavor due to the age-of-onset criterion in older editions of the DSM that prohibited first-onset diagnoses in adulthood. This study tests relationships between ASA symptoms and higher- and lower-order personality traits in a community sample of 565 women. It accounts for systematic error by utilizing informant report, two personality inventories, and data from two time points over three years, and by adjusting for mood state. It also tests longitudinal ASA-personality models. Results indicate that ASA is robustly associated with negative emotionality and its facet of stress reaction, as well as with aggression, alienation, and absorption to somewhat lesser degrees. These relationships are not due to overlap with other traits (except in the case of alienation), or mood-state biases, and they are verified by informants. Moreover, negative temperament predicts greater levels of ASA three years later, adjusting for baseline ASA. Neither positive emotionality or temperament, nor positive emotionality's lower-order scales, were uniquely related to ASA in multitrait models, whereas relationships between ASA and disinhibition and constraint were inconsistent. These findings lay the groundwork for future research testing the mechanisms and causal links between these personality traits and ASA and may help clinicians anticipate traits that are associated with ASA in order to tailor treatments to patients' personalities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Adult; Aged; Anxiety, Separation; Female; Humans; Personality; Personality Disorders; Personality Inventory; Temperament
PubMed: 34553957
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000682 -
Journal of Personality Feb 2019One of the enduring missions of personality science is to unravel what it takes to become a fully functioning person. In the present article, the authors address this... (Review)
Review
One of the enduring missions of personality science is to unravel what it takes to become a fully functioning person. In the present article, the authors address this matter from the perspectives of self-determination theory (SDT) and personality systems interactions (PSI) theory. SDT (a) is rooted in humanistic psychology; (b) has emphasized a first-person perspective on motivation and personality; (c) posits that the person, supported by the social environment, naturally moves toward growth through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. PSI theory (a) is rooted in German volition psychology; (b) has emphasized a third-person perspective on motivation and personality; and (c) posits that a fully functioning person can form and enact difficult intentions and integrate new experiences, and that such competencies are facilitated by affect regulation. The authors review empirical support for SDT and PSI theory, their convergences and divergences, and how the theories bear on recent empirical research on internalization, vitality, and achievement flow. The authors conclude that SDT and PSI theory offer complementary insights into developing a person's full potential.
Topics: Humans; Personal Autonomy; Personality; Personality Development; Psychological Theory
PubMed: 29524339
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12380 -
International Journal of Aging & Human... Jul 2021The purpose of this study was a cross-cultural examination of centenarians' personality through a person-centered approach to examine if there is a "resilient"...
The purpose of this study was a cross-cultural examination of centenarians' personality through a person-centered approach to examine if there is a "resilient" personality profile consistent across cultures. Proxy reports information was obtained from family and close friends of 239 U.S. centenarians from the Georgia Centenarians Study and 272 Japanese centenarians from the Tokyo Centenarian Study. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify personality profiles in centenarians from the United States and Japan. Two personality profiles were identified in both samples: a "resilient" personality profile and "nonresilient" personality profile. The "resilient" group had higher levels of positive personality traits with higher scores on agreeableness and extraversion and lower scores on neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness. The "nonresilient" group had higher scores on neuroticism and lower scores on extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Fifty percent of U.S. centenarians and 65% of Japanese centenarians were in the "resilient" group.
Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Extraversion, Psychological; Female; Humans; Japan; Male; Neuroticism; Optimism; Personality; Resilience, Psychological; United States
PubMed: 32394718
DOI: 10.1177/0091415020920002