EXAMINING CORRELATES OF FIVE FACTOR MODEL PERSONALITY TRAITS OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS AND THEIR SPECIALTY PREFERENCES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYTICAL STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55519/JAMC-01-14345Keywords:
Big-Five Inventory, Medical students, Personality traits, Specialty preference, Healthcare workforceAbstract
Background: Personality traits significantly influence medical students' and physicians' specialty choices. The Five Factor Model assesses extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Certain specialties attract individuals with specific traits, and recognizing these correlations enhances medical education and career planning. Objectives were to assess personality traits of medical students and house officers using Factor Five Model, identify their future specialty preferences and determine any correlation. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study (n=230) was conducted among medical students from a private medical college and house officers at a tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, after ethical approval from March to August 2023. A self-administered questionnaire collected demographic data, specialty preferences, and personality traits assessed using the Big Five Inventory–2 Extra-Short Form with Cronbach’s α = 0.74. Data were analyzed on SPSS v-23 (p≤0.05). Results: Out of 230 respondents, 64.8% were females, mean age 23±1.5 years. Agreeableness had highest mean score (10.97±2.26), Neuroticism was lowest (8.70±2.49), with females scoring higher in both. Significant higher Agreeableness was linked to post-graduate study plans (p=0.028). Surgery (n=75) and Internal Medicine (n=50) were most preferred. Extraversion was significantly higher in Surgery (p=0.014) and lower in Radiology (p=0.027). Pediatrics correlated with higher neuroticism (p=0.028), family medicine with lower neuroticism (p=0.05). Emergency Medicine (p=0.018) and Ophthalmology (p=0.05) were associated with higher agreeableness. Conclusion: These findings highlight personality patterns influencing specialty choices in medical professionals. Recognizing these associations aids medical training, career counselling, and workforce planning, ensuring balanced physician distribution. Tailored guidance may enhance job satisfaction, fulfilment, and healthcare efficiency.
References
1. Suciu N, Meliț LE, Mărginean CO. A holistic approach of personality traits in medical students: an integrative review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021;18(23):12822.
2. Leutritz T, Krauthausen M, Simmenroth A, König S. Factors associated with medical students' career choice in different specialties: a multiple cross-sectional questionnaire study at a German medical school. BMC Med Educ 2024;24(1):798.
3. Yin K, Yang L, Zhang R, Zheng D, Wilkes MS, Lai Y. Gender differences and influencing factors in specialty choices: findings from one medical school in China. Front Public Health 2021;9:e648612.
4. Tobiaszewska M, Koweszko T, Jurek J, Mikołap K, Gierus J, Mikulski J, et al. Personality types of medical students in terms of their choice of medical specialty: cross-sectional study. Interact J Med Res 2024;13:e60223.
5. Kwon OY, Park SY. Specialty choice preference of medical students according to personality traits by Five-Factor Model. Korean J Med Educ 2016;28(1):95–102.
6. Al Sawafi A, Al Lawati A, Al Sinawi H. Personality traits and potential career choices among medical students at Sultan Qaboos University: a cross-sectional study. Cureus 2024;16(1):e51994.
7. Kyaw L, Loh KY, Tan YQ, Wu FMW, Tiong HY, Wang Z. Personality differences between internal medicine and surgical residents in an Asian population. BMC Med Educ 2022;22(1):650.
8. Nawaiseh MB, Haddadin RR, Al Droubi B, Nawaiseh HB, Alarood S, Aborajooh E, et al. The association between personality traits and specialty preference among medical students in Jordan. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2020;13:599–607.
9. Sier VQ, Schmitz RF, Schepers A, van der Vorst JR. Exploring the surgical personality. Surgeon 2023;21(1):1–7
10. Krauthausen M, Leutritz T, Koch MJ, Hagen PE, König S, Simmenroth A. Personality and interest in general practice: results from an online survey among medical students. BMC Prim Care 2024;25(1):415.
11. Raosoft Inc. Sample size calculator [Internet]. Seattle (WA): Raosoft Inc.; ©2004 [cited 2023 Feb]. Available from: http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html
12. Soto CJ, John OP. Short and extra-short forms of the Big Five Inventory–2: The BFI-2-S and BFI-2-XS. J Res Pers 2017;68:69–81.
13. Sultan S, Labban OM, Hamawi AM, AlKattan W, AlKattan A, AlKattan M, et al. Relationship of big five personality traits and future specialty preference among undergraduate medical students: a cross-sectional study. Egypt J Neurol Psychiatry Neurosurg 2023;59:103.
14. Bansal R, Mathew KA, Jith A, Narayanan D. A comparison of personality traits, learning style, and perceived stress among surgical and nonsurgical residents in a tertiary care hospital in India. Ind Psychiatry J 2021;30(2):329–34.
15. Yielder J, Dungey G, Patten B. Personality preferences for radiation therapy students in New Zealand. Radiography (Lond) 2021;27(1):156–61.
16. Brown PA, Slater M, Lofters A. Personality and burnout among primary care physicians: an international study. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2019;12:169–177.
17. Gębska-Kuczerowska A, Rozenek H, Frajnt-Dąbrowska M, Rabczenko D, Banasiewicz J, Gajda R. Features of personality and professional burnout syndrome of physicians – analysis based on questionnaire studies. Przegl Epidemiol 2020;74(3):531–42.
18. Milić J, Škrlec I, Milić Vranješ I, Jakab J, Plužarić V, Heffer M. Importance of the big-five in the future medical specialty preference. BMC Med Educ 2020;20(1):234.
19. Rehmat SU, Sadam SH, Ahmad F. Factors affecting career choices among medical students of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad. Int Rev Acad Bus Clin Stud 2024;2(2):159–166.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fizza Nouman, Tahira Amjad, Malaika Nasir, Abdur Rahim, Maimoona Yousaf, Malaika Abid, Abdullah Inayat Gondal, Abdullah Waheed Chaudhry
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.
