Personality characteristics of empathy profiles – practical implications for education of medicine students (original) (raw)
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Empathy and Personality Styles in Medical Students
Revista Colombiana de Psicología
This study aimed to establish the relationship between empathy and personality styles in medical students, considering the differences by gender. The participants were 278 students of the medical career of the Universidad del Azuay, Ecuador. They were evaluated using the Jefferson empathy scale and the Millon Index of Personality Styles. Relationships between empathy and personality styles were examined using Pearson's correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis, for comparisons by gender and educational levels; with both Student's t test and analysis of variance used respectively. Results indicated that the factor structure of the empathy scale is invariant between men and women, noticing gender differences in care with compassion and total empathy, with women presenting a higher mean. Differences are observed by educational level, where the general empathy in the first three years grows progressively, and then slightly decrease. In conclusi...
Associations between Medical Student Empathy and Personality: A Multi-Institutional Study
Plos One, 2014
Background: More empathetic physicians are more likely to achieve higher patient satisfaction, adherence to treatments, and health outcomes. In the context of medical education, it is thus important to understand how personality might condition the empathetic development of medical students. Single institutional evidence shows associations between students' personality and empathy. This multi-institutional study aimed to assess such associations across institutions, looking for personality differences between students with high empathy and low empathy levels.
Empathy of medical students and personality: Evidence from the Five-Factor Model
Medical Teacher, 2012
The main aim of this study was to test hypothetical associations between personality dimensions and empathy scores in medical students. The Portuguese version of NEO-FFI was administered in order to characterize participants in terms of five personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness. Self-reported empathy measures were obtained with the Portuguese version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE-spv), a Likert-type questionnaire specifically developed for administration in health sciences settings that measures domains, such as compassionate care and perspective taking. Correlation analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance, and logistic regression analysis were conducted. The results confirmed positive associations between agreeableness, openness to experience and empathy, and did not support our hypothesis of negative associations between neuroticism and empathy. It is suggested that that the personality of students should be taken into account in programs to enhance empathy in undergraduate medical education.
The relationship between empathy and personality traits in Saudi medical students
Journal of education and health promotion, 2022
BACKGROUND:Empathy is regarded as a fundamental personal attribute for in-training and in-practice doctors. Several factors may play a significant role to facilitate or prevent the ability of doctors' empathy toward their patients. The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship of empathy with personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) among undergraduate medical students.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This study was based on a correlational, cross-sectional design and was conducted from January 2020 to April 2020. The sample consisted of 301 undergraduate medical students studying in different medical colleges situated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Personal information form, the big-five personality inventory, and the interpersonal reactivity index scales were administered. Obtained data were analyzed by applying several methods such as mean, standard deviation, Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multivariable linear regression.RESULTS:Regression analysis revealed that personality dimensions accounted for 10–19% of the variance in scores of empathy sub-dimensions of perspective-taking, empathetic concern, fantasy, and personal distress. Agreeableness was found to be associated with empathetic concern and perspective-taking. Openness to experience was found to be significantly related to perspective-taking and fantasy, whereas extraversion was negatively associated with perspective-taking. Neuroticism had an association with personal distress, empathetic concern, and fantasy. Additionally, no gender difference was observed and students with people-oriented specialty preferences showed significantly higher scores on empathy sub-domains than technology-oriented students.CONCLUSION:This study confirmed that personality dimensions play a notable role to predict empathetic behaviors among Saudi undergraduate medical students. This study would help to design individualized strategies by incorporating personality dimensions in the training program to enhance empathetic behavior among medical students.
PLOS ONE
The issues of personality and its relations with the level of empathetic sensibility of medical doctors are broadly discussed in the literature. The aim of this study was an assessment of personality related predictors of empathy indicators in female and male students of medicine with consideration of gender differences. Methods applied were Empathic Sensitiveness Scale (ESS) and Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). The study included 153 participants, who were students of the fifth year of medical studies. Students filled in questionnaires during workshops in clinical psychological skills. Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. The statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 13 PL and PS IMAGO PRO (SPSS). Linear regression analysis with the interaction component was performed to explore the relationship between personality factors and gender and their interaction with the variable dependent level of empathy. The analysis showed that Extraversion, Openness and ...
Slovenian Journal of Public Health, 2015
Introduction. Self-reported scales, such as the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Student version (JSE-S), had been recognised to measure the empathic disposition rather than behavioural expression. This study aimed to re-validate the JSE-S and its factor structure prior further research on empathy in medical students. Methods. A convenience sampling method was employed in two consecutive academic years, in 2012/13 and 2013/14, at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, Slovenia; first and final year students participated voluntarily. The JSE-S examined empathy levels. The principal component analysis was performed with Oblimin rotation and Kaisers’ criteria. Factors with eigenvalues ≥ 1.25 were retained and items loading ≥ |0.40| were required for the interpretation of the factor structure. Results. The total study sample size was 845 students, (580 (68.6%)) of them women; 327 (72.2%) were in the first (19.2 ± 1.9 years old) and 253 (61.7%) in the sixth (24.9 ± 1.1 years old) year of medi...
Education in Medicine Journal, 2022
This study aims to compare the empathy scores of Malaysian medical students between preclinical and clinical training, and to identify the predictive factors for empathic behaviour. In this cross-sectional study, the medical student version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE-S) was distributed to medical students at Quest International University (QIU), Malaysia. The JSE-S scores are analysed using independent t-tests to determine any significant difference between the preclinical and clinical training. We use a one-way ANOVA test to identify the factors influencing medical students’ empathy levels. A total of 85% of the students responded to the questionnaires. The mean JSE-S scores for QIU medical students is 106.2 (M = 106.2, SD = 13.5). Female students have significantly higher empathy scores than males (F(1,240) = 8.32, p = 0.004). The compassionate domain of empathy scores increased significantly with an increase in the year of medical school (F(4,237) = 3.135, p = 0.015)....
Understanding medical students’ empathy based on Enneagram personality types
Korean Journal of Medical Education
High self-awareness can promote communication and empathy. The Enneagram is a well-known personality tool to enhance self-awareness. We evaluated differences in empathy among medical students using the Enneagram typology. Methods: This cross-sectional study included first and second grade students at the Inje University College of Medicine. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy was used to measure empathy and the Korean Enneagram Personality Type Indicator was used for examining personality characteristics. Empathy scores were analyzed according to the Triads, Hornevian group, Harmonic group, and each Enneagram type. Results: The Instinctive triad, the Withdrawns, and the Positive outlook group were the most common, and the Feeling triad, the Assertives, and the Emotional realness group were the least common. Students in the Feeling triad and the Dutifuls had higher compassionate care (CC) scores as compared to their counterparts. Type 2 and 6 students showed the two highest empathy and CC scores. The empathy score of type 3 students was the lowest. Type 7 had the lowest CC score but the highest perspective taking score. Conclusion: These differences in empathy according to Enneagram personality types can be applied to medical education to maintain and improve medical students' empathy.
2021
Purpose This study was conducted to assess the developmental factors of empathy among medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). Methods To assess the empathy levels, 42 first-year and an equal number of last-year medical students were randomly selected. They answered a questionnaire including the medical student version of the Jefferson Scale, demographic, and some related variables. Statistical analyses were performed using the Chi-square test, T-test, univariate, and multivariate regressions. Result The study population consisted of 51 (60.7 %) men and 33 (39.3 %) women with a mean (SD) age of 22.24 (4.10) years. The Jefferson score was 110.19 ± 13.61 and 103.52 ± 20.00 in first- and last-year medical students, respectively. Moreover, medical students who completely passed at least one of the considered empathy courses of the TUMS curriculum had higher empathy scores compared to their counterparts (109.83 ± 15.54 vs. 103.68 ± 19.02). There was no significan...
Predicting empathy in medical students and doctors
It is universally acknowledged that empathy is an essential quality in members of the medical and other helping professions, although it is often referred to by other names such as 'caring attitude ' (e.g., Lown et al 2007). Selection of students to professional courses therefore requires the identification of those who have the capacity to respond empathically to patients, families and others. This chapter reviews some of the important issues concerning empathy in medicine, including the conditions that foster it and how to predict it in medical students and medical professionals. We review research carried out by ourselves and others in recent years on methods to measure those aspects of personality that have been found to be related to caring attitudes and behaviours. A particular issue that is addressed whether it is better to try to identify and select those likely to show a high degree of empathy, or to identify and reject applicants to medicine who have characteristics that are antagonistic to empathy. A tentative model is proposed that takes account of factors such as emotional stability, conscientiousness and self control that tend to support the capacity for empathic behaviours in professional people, and some factors such as narcissism that may inhibit them.