scholarly journals Temperament and character profiles of medical students associated with tolerance of ambiguity and perfectionism

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janni Leung ◽  
C. Robert Cloninger ◽  
Barry A. Hong ◽  
Kevin M. Cloninger ◽  
Diann S. Eley
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Self Report ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Tolerance Of Ambiguity ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Concern Over Mistakes

BackgroundCertain personal attributes, such as perfectionism and tolerance of ambiguity, have been identified as influential in high achieving students. Medical students have been identified as high achievers and perfectionistic, and as such may be challenged by ambiguity. Medical students undertake a long and challenging degree. Personality has been shown to influence the well-being and coping and may equip some students to better cope with challenges. This paper examines the association between temperament and character personality profiles with measures of tolerance of ambiguity and with both adaptive and maladaptive constructs of perfectionism.MethodsA self-report questionnaire collected data on a sample of 808 Australian medical students in 2014 and 2015. Personality was measured using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCIR-140) and classified traits as profiles using a latent class analysis. Two profiles were found. Profile 1 was characterized by low-average levels of Harm Avoidance, and high to very high levels of Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness. Moderately-high levels of Harm Avoidance and high levels of Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness characterized Profile 2. Moderation regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between the personality profiles with levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity (MSAT-II), Perfectionism-Concern over Mistakes and Perfectionism-High Standards (FMPS), considering demographic characteristics.ResultsStudents with Profile 1 were higher in levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity, and Perfectionism-High Standards, and lower levels of Perfectionism-Concern over Mistakes compared to Profile 2. These findings remained statistically significant after adjusting for age and gender. A significant personality by age interaction on Tolerance of Ambiguity was found. While higher levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity were associated with older age overall, it remained low across age for students with a personality Profile 2.ConclusionsA particular combination of personality traits was identified to be associated with low Tolerance of Ambiguity and high levels of maladaptive Perfectionism. An intolerance of ambiguity and over concern about mistakes may be maladaptive and underlie vulnerability to stress and poor coping. The psychobiological model of personality provides insight into traits that are stable and those that can be self-regulated through education and training. The interaction between biological mechanisms and socio-cultural learning is relevant to a sample of medical students because it accounts for interaction of the biological or innate aspects of their personal development within an intense and competitive learning environment of medical school.

scholarly journals Positive Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Mental Health of Female Teachers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (18) ◽  
pp. 6450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Matiz ◽  
Franco Fabbro ◽  
Andrea Paschetto ◽  
Damiano Cantone ◽  
Anselmo Roberto Paolone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Interoceptive Awareness ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Mindfulness Skills ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Anxiety Depression

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent public health measures were shown to impact negatively on people’s mental health. In particular, women were reported to be at higher risk than men of developing symptoms of stress/anxiety/depression, and resilience was considered a key factor for positive mental health outcomes. In the present study, a sample of Italian female teachers (n = 66, age: 51.5 ± 7.9 years) was assessed with self-report instruments one month before and one month after the start of the Covid-19 lockdown: mindfulness skills, empathy, personality profiles, interoceptive awareness, psychological well-being, emotional distress and burnout levels were measured. Meanwhile, they received an 8-week Mindfulness-Oriented Meditation (MOM) course, through two group meetings and six individual video-lessons. Based on baseline personality profiles, analyses of variance were performed in a low-resilience (LR, n = 32) and a high-resilience (HR, n = 26) group. The LR and HR groups differed at baseline in most of the self-report measures. Pre–post MOM significant improvements were found in both groups in anxiety, depression, affective empathy, emotional exhaustion, psychological well-being, interoceptive awareness, character traits and mindfulness levels. Improvements in depression and psychological well-being were higher in the LR vs. HR group. We conclude that mindfulness-based training can effectively mitigate the psychological negative consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak, helping in particular to restore well-being in the most vulnerable individuals.

scholarly journals Excessive Boredom Among Adolescents: A Comparison Between Low and High Achievers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel M. Schwartze ◽  
Anne C. Frenzel ◽  
Thomas Goetz ◽  
Anton Karl Georg Marx ◽  
Corinna Reck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Self Report ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Achievement Level ◽  
School Students ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
High Achieving Students ◽  
High Achieving

Existing research shows that high scholastic boredom is correlated with a range of undesirable behaviors and personality traits and that the main antecedents of boredom are being over- or under-challenged. No study to date, though, seems to have systematically compared students who are highly bored and low-achieving (thus, likely over-challenged) with students who are highly bored and high-achieving (thus, likely under-challenged). Hence, merely knowing that students are highly bored might be insufficient for drawing conclusions about students’ behavior and personality, without taking their achievement level into account. We, therefore, investigated if low- versus high-achieving students who experience strong mathematics boredom show different behaviors and personality traits. The sample consisted of 1,404 German secondary school students (fifth to 10th grade, mean age 12.83 years, 52% female). We used self-report instruments to assess boredom in mathematics, behavior (social and emotional problems, positive/negative affect, emotion regulation), and personality traits (neuroticism and conscientiousness). In comparing highly bored students (more than one SD above M, n = 258) who were low versus high achievers (as indicated by the math grade, n = 125 / n = 119), results showed that there were no mean level differences across those groups for the behavior and personality trait constructs, with only three exceptions: conduct problems and expressive suppression (higher for low achievers) and positive affect (higher for high achievers). In conclusion, our results suggest that high boredom can occur in both low and high achieving students and that bored low- and high-achievers show largely similar behaviors and personality profiles.

PERSONALITY PROFILES IN A SWEDISH LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED SAMPLE

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-39
Author(s):  
Alexandre Granjard ◽  
Kevin M. Cloninger ◽  
Erik Lindskär ◽  
Christian Jacobsson ◽  
Sverker Sikström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
General Population ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Self Transcendence

Background: Long-term unemployment is associated with psychiatric problems, higher risk of suicide, low levels of well-being, and high levels of burnout. In this context, among other factors such as sociodemographic status and IQ, specific personality traits are important for individuals’ chances to finding a job, getting hired, and retaining that job, as well as for coping with the mental health risks related to long-term unemployment. Thus, in order to use person-centered methods to promote public health and sustainable employment during the current and future challenges of the 21st century, an important research area is the mapping and understanding of personality profiles of individuals who are unemployed.  Objectives: We mapped the personality traits and profiles in a sample of Swedish long-term unemployed (i.e., ≥ 6 months without work) in relation to a control group from the Swedish general population. Method: 245 long-term unemployed individuals (136 men and 157 women, range 18 to 60 years; M = 25.7; SD = 9.6) were recruited at the beginning of different well-being and employment projects in Blekinge, Sweden. The participants reported gender, age, and other basic demographics, as well as their personality using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). We calculated the T-scores and percentiles for the personality traits using the Swedish normative data (N = 1,948) and clustered participants in different temperament (high/low novelty seeking: N/n, high/low harm avoidance: H/h, high/low reward dependence: R/r) and character profiles (high/low self-directedness: S/s, high/low cooperativeness: C/c, high/low self-transcendence: T/t). Results: Compared to the general population, the long-term unemployed were extremely higher in harm avoidance (> 1.5 standard deviation), moderately lower in persistence (> 0.5 standard deviation), extremely lower in self-directedness (> 2 standard deviations), and moderately lower in novelty seeking (> 0.5 standard deviation). That is, consistent with past research, our study shows that the personality of long-term unemployed is denoted by being pessimistic, fearful, easily fatigable, underachieving, blaming, helpless, and unfulfilled (i.e., high harm avoidance, low persistence, and low self-directedness), but also by being reserved and rigid (i.e., low novelty seeking). Furthermore, within the unemployed population, as much as 71.60% reported a methodical (nHr) or cautious profile (nHR), and as much as 64.00% reported an apathetic (sct) or a disorganized profile (scT). Moreover, the profile analyses allowed us to show that, within this unemployed population and in relation to each individual’s own profile, about 91.70% were high in harm avoidance, 98.60% were low in self-directedness, 64.00% were low in cooperativeness, and 44.40% low in self-transcendence. Conclusions: These results indicate a high predictive value by the TCI, especially regarding the specific basic health-related traits or abilities (i.e., self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) needed to cope with the risks related to unemployment. Specifically, long-term unemployed populations have temperament profiles that present difficulties for them to adapt to the circumstances of unemployment, but also finding, getting, and retaining a job and character profiles that diminish their possibilities to self-regulate the emotions derived from their temperament through self-directed choices that improve their health and all aspects of their lives. Hence, evidence-based interventions targeting stress reduction and the development of health-related traits or abilities (i.e., self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) are urgently needed.

scholarly journals Identifying the Dominant Personality Profiles in Medical Students: Implications for Their Well-Being and Resilience

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e0160028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diann S. Eley ◽  
Janni Leung ◽  
Barry A. Hong ◽  
Kevin M. Cloninger ◽  
C. Robert Cloninger
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Personality Profiles

scholarly journals The roles of attachment and resilience in perceived stress in medical students

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galilee Thompson ◽  
Andrew Wrath ◽  
Krista Trinder ◽  
G. Camelia Adams
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
Attachment Insecurity ◽  
Mediation Analyses

Background: Medical students are susceptible to high levels of psychological stress, while being equipped with lower levels of resilience, especially females. Adult attachment is a known risk factor for a broad range of mental health difficulties and poor coping. The purpose of this study is to examine relationship attachment style, perceived stress, and resilience in medical students.Methods: Data was collected via an online survey using self-report measures from University of Saskatchewan undergraduate medical students (n = 188). Attachment was assessed with the Relationship Questionnaire and Experiences in Close Relationships Scale. Resilience and stress were assessed with the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Perceived Stress Scale, respectively.Results: Approximately half of our sample endorsed secure attachment style (49.4%). Females reported significantly more attachment insecurity, higher attachment anxiety, higher perceived stress, and lower resilience compared to males, as expected. As predicted, attachment anxiety and avoidance were predictors of perceived stress. Mediation analyses supported the hypothesis that resilience acted as a partial mediator between attachment insecurity and perceived stress.Conclusion: These findings suggest attachment plays a role in perceived stress in medical students. In addition, the role of resiliency in protecting against this effect highlights potential areas for intervention to improve medical student well-being and provides a foundation for longitudinal follow-up. 

scholarly journals Excessive boredom among adolescents: A comparison between low and high achievers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241671
Author(s):  
Manuel M. Schwartze ◽  
Anne C. Frenzel ◽  
Thomas Goetz ◽  
Anton K. G. Marx ◽  
Corinna Reck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Self Report ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Achievement Level ◽  
School Students ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Personality Variables ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
High Achieving Students ◽  
High Achieving

Existing research shows that high achievement boredom is correlated with a range of undesirable behavioral and personality variables and that the main antecedents of boredom are being over- or under-challenged. However, merely knowing that students are highly bored, without taking their achievement level into account, might be insufficient for drawing conclusions about students’ behavior and personality. We, therefore, investigated if low- vs. high-achieving students who experience strong mathematics boredom show different behaviors and personality traits. The sample consisted of 1,404 German secondary school students (fifth to 10th grade, mean age 12.83 years, 52% female). We used self-report instruments to assess boredom in mathematics, behavioral (social and emotional problems, positive/negative affect, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression), and personality variables (neuroticism and conscientiousness). In comparing highly bored students (more than one SD above M, n = 258) who were low vs. high achievers (as indicated by the math grade, n = 125 / n = 119), results showed that there were no mean level differences across those groups for all variables. In conclusion, our results suggest that high boredom can occur in both low- and high-achieving students and that bored low- and high-achievers show similar behaviors and personality profiles.

Academic burnout and personality traits in Korean medical students

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S691-S691 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Chae ◽  
S.J. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Academic Stress ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Academic Burnout

ObjectivesPersonality was shown to play an important role for well being under academic stress. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how temperament and character traits predict academic burnout in Korean medical students.MethodsOne hundred and seventy-eight Korean medical students completed the Cloninger's temperament and character inventory (TCI) at the beginning of semester and Maslach burnout inventory-student survey (MBI-SS) was also measured around the final exam when academic stress and burnout is at the highest. The correlation between TCI and MBI-SS was examined and stepwise regression analysis was performed to measure how well personality traits predict academic burnout level.ResultsThe MBI-SS total burnout score was correlated positively with harm-avoidance (r = 0.247, P < 0.05) and negatively with self-directedness (r = -0.296, P < 0.001) and Cooperativeness (r = -0.169, P < 0.05) scores. The regression analysis showed that the harm-avoidance (β = 0.269, P < 0.001) accounted for exhaustion score and the self-directedness explained the Total burnout score (β = -0.296, P < 0.001) and Inefficacy score (β = -0.284, P < 0.001). The Cynicism score was accounted for high Novelty-Seeking (β = 0.150, P < 0.05) and low Cooperativeness (β = -0.182, P < 0.05).ConclusionThis study showed that the Cloninger's temperament and character might explain the burnout level from the stressful medical education. The temperament of novelty-seeking and harm-avoidance could provide the susceptibility to the academic burnout and the character of self-directedness and cooperativeness might determine the resilience to the negative influence of academic stress.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Effects of personality on the developmental trajectories of academic burnout among Korean medical students

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10362
Author(s):  
Han Chae ◽  
C. Robert Cloninger ◽  
Soo Jin Lee
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Academic Burnout

Background Medical students have a high risk of burnout from tremendous academic stress, and previous cross-sectional studies have explained this risk from the personality perspective. However, the relationship between complex personality profiles and developmental trajectory of burnout has not been delineated yet. Methods The longitudinal changes in burnout were measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) at baseline (1st week), mid-term (9th week), and end-term (17th week), and personality was examined at baseline using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Latent trajectory groups based on the MBI-SS total scores were extracted using the General Growth Mixture Model (GGMM), and significant differences in personality profiles among the latent groups were identified using profile analysis and Analysis of Variance. Results Three burnout trajectory groups of high-increasing (HI), moderate-increasing (MI), and low-stable (LS) were identified, and these groups had significantly different TCI subscale profiles. The HI group had the highest score in Harm-Avoidance (HA) and lowest score in Self-Directedness (SD), and the MI group had a higher score in HA and lower scores in SD and Cooperativeness (CO) when compared to the LS group with the lowest score in HA and highest scores in SD and CO. Conclusion The current study showed that the HA, SD, and CO subscales of the TCI might explain the longitudinal development of academic burnout in medical students. Prevention of burnout and promotion of well-being in medical education concerning personality are discussed.

scholarly journals Examining changes in medical students’ emotion regulation in an online PBL session

2019 ◽  
pp. 129-157
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Learning Session ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
Adaptive Responding ◽  
Detection Mechanisms

Given recent attention to emotion regulation (ER) as an important factor in personal well-being and effective social communication, there is a need for detection mechanisms that accurately capture ER and facilitate adaptive responding (Calvo & D’Mello, 2010). Current approaches to determining ER are mainly limited to self-report data such as questionnaires, inventories and interviews (e.g., Davis, Griffith, Thiel, & Connelly, 2015). Although beneficial, these self-report approaches have important shortcomings such as social desirability biases, recall issues, and inability to capture unconscious ER (Scherer, 2005). The research presented here explores this gap by examining the use of multimodal observational data as well as self-report data to more accurately capture ER. Specifically, this study develops and employs a multimodal analysis of emotion data channels (facial, vocal and postural emotion data channels) to provide a rich analysis of ER in an international case study of four medical students interacting in an emotionally challenging learning session (i.e., communicating bad news to patients) in a technology-rich learning environment. The findings reported in the paper can provide insights for educators in designing programs to enhance and evaluate ER strategies of students in order to regulate personal emotions as well as the emotional needs of others in stressful situations. This work also makes important contributions to the design of technology-rich environments to embed dynamic ER detection mechanisms that enable systems to gain a more holistic view of the participants, and to adapt instructions based on their affective needs.

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