An evaluation of personality traits associated with job satisfaction among South African anaesthetists using the Big Five Inventory

Background: Job satisfaction is a vital contributor to occupational well-being and may be instrumental in mitigating stress and the adverse effects thereof. This is particularly pertinent in anaesthesiology, which is an inherently stressful field. There are myriad factors, including personality traits, shown to influence job satisfaction. Personality testing is conducted in many industries prior to recruitment; however, this is not the case in medicine. Currently the prevailing tool for the aforementioned purpose is the Big Five Inventory based on the well-described Five Factor Model of personality. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was utilised with electronic questionnaires distributed to all 1 509 members of the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists in 2016. Specialists, registrars, diploma-qualified and full-time general practitioner anaesthetists working in both the private and public sectors were included. Results: A response rate of 31% was achieved. Statistical analysis demonstrated that Neuroticism was the strongest and most consistent negative correlate of job satisfaction, while Agreeableness was positively associated with job satisfaction. Encouragingly, a mean of 65.6% was recorded for job satisfaction using a visual analogue scale. Socio-demographic variables positively associated with job satisfaction included increasing age, male gender, private practice and specialist/diploma qualification. Conclusions: Information gleaned from this study may prove useful in vocational counselling with the aim of improving occupational well-being, thereby reducing burnout and maladaptive behaviour among South African anaesthetists

Actitudes hacia la jubilación / Attitudes toward retirement

Los objetivos del presente trabajo fueron: (1) Comparar las actitudes hacia la jubilación de una muestra de sujetos en las etapas pre y posjubilatoria. (2) Analizar la influencia de ciertas variables tales como: edad, género, estado civil, nivel educacional, nivel ocupacional, grado de conformidad con el monto del haber jubilatorio, grado de satisfacción laboral, percepción de apoyo social, uso del tiempo libre, existencia o no de proyectos para el futuro, nivel de autoestima, etc., sobre las actitudes de ambos grupos hacia la jubilación. (3) Analizar la relación entre ciertas variables de personalidad y las actitudes hacia la jubilación. Dentro de este objetivo se puso a prueba la siguiente hipótesis: Las personas menos afectivas, con un yo más débil, más ansiosas, con tendencia a la culpabilidad y con predominio del control interno o externo poseen actitudes más desfavorables hacia la jubilación, que aquellas personas que son más afectivas, con un yo más fuerte, menos ansiosas, con baja tendencia a la culpabilidad y con equilibrio entre el control interno y externo. [ ... ] A fin de analizar la relación entre las actitudes hacia la jubilación y ciertos rasgos de personalidad fueron seleccionados los factores: A (Afectividad), C (Fuerza del yo), O (Tendencia a la culpabilidad) y Q4 (Ansiedad) del Test 16 PF de Cattell, Eber y Tatsuoka (1970). [ ... ] Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que la mayoría de las variables consideradas influyen en forma estadísticamente significativa, ya sea en forma favorable o desfavorable, sobre las actitudes hacia la jubilación. Por último, fue corroborada la hipótesis formulada previamente

This study had the following objectives: (1) To compare attitudes toward retirement in individuals before and after pension is received. (2) To analyze the influence of variables such as age, sex, marital status, education, occupation, agreement with the amount of pension, degree of work satisfaction, perception of social support, use of free time, presence or absence of future projects, level of self-respect, etc., upon the attitudes toward retirement in both groups. (3) To analyze the relationship between attitudes toward retirement and some personality traits. [ ... ] With the purpose of measuring attitudes toward retirement, we constructed two scales using two methods: Osgood’s differential semantic method (Osgood, Suci & Tannenbaum, 1957) and Thurstone’s apparently equal intervals method (Thurstone & Chave, 1937). The score intercorrelations were factor analyzed, since one of the goals was to find the number of underlying dimensions in the tests, and thus have a validated scale to measure attitudes. To analyze the relationship between attitudes toward retirement and beliefs in the control of everyday life events, we used an abbreviated version based on Rotter’s former Scale of Locus of Control (1966). To study the relationship between attitudes and some personality traits we selected Cattell’s factors of A (Affection), C (Ego strength), O (Guilt tendency), and Q4 (Anxiety) from the 16PF Test (Cattell, Eber & Tatsuoka, 1970). [ ... ] The results showed that most of the variables which were studied have a significant influence, whether positive or negative, upon the attitudes toward retirement. Individuals with a positive attitude towards retirement obtained significantly higher scores in affection, ego strength, and significantly lower scores in guilt tendencies and anxiety compared to those with unfavorable attitudes. [ ... ]

Determining the trait favorability of the urdu version of 300 adjective check list

The purpose of the present study was to obtain trait favorability of the Urdu version [Hague, 1982] of 300 Adjective Check List [ACL] originally developed by Gough and Heilbrun [1965] as rated by Sindh University students. The ACL contains both negative and positive adjectives, expressing those qualities, which seem to be more or less essential for describing human personality traits. The study was designed to investigate the favorability of each adjective more systematically. A precise estimation was made by obtaining subjects' ratings the favorability of each adjective on a 5-point scale and subsequently by determining a mean value of each item of the ACL

A estrutura do 16PF-5, versão espanhola: uma análise fatorial dos itens / The structure of the 16PF-5, Spanish version: a factor analysis of items

O sistema de Cattell dos dezesseis fatores de primeira ordem no âmbito da personalidade normal não tem mudado desde seus estudos de elaboração há aproximadamente 50 anos. Este artigo examina a evidência que apoia a estrutura da versão espanhola do 16 PF-5, o qual foi aplicado a 3.446 pessoas e o conjunto de itens foi fatorizado diretamente. Foi realizada uma análise dos fatores principais, com rotação oblíqua direct quartimin e as matrizes fatoriais padrão e estrutura foram examinadas. As conclusões foram de que, embora a estrutura da personalidade seja mais clara quando as parcelas dos itens são consideradas (Cattell & Cattell, 1995; Prieto, Gouveia, & Fernández, 1996), os dezesseis fatores foram parcialmente confirmados analisando-se unicamente os itens. Neste sentido, é apropriado pensar na versão espanhola do 16 PF-5 como uma medida adequada dos fatores da personalidade normal, como tem sido definida por R. B. Cattell.

The patient-physician interactions as seen by undergraduate medical students

CONTEXT: The interaction between a physician and his or her patient is complex and occurs by means of technical performance and through a personal relationship. OBJECTIVE: To assess the interaction between the medical professional and his or her patient with the participation of medical students assuming a role as observers and participants in a medical appointment in an outpatient office. DESIGN: Questionnaire interview study. SETTING: General Medicine outpatient offices, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, University of Säo Paulo. PARTICIPANTS: Medical students performed an ethnographical technique of observation, following 199 outpatient medical appointments with Clinical Medicine Residents. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: A questionnaire filled out by observer students measured the physician's attitudes towards patients, as well as patients' expectations regarding the appointment and his or her understanding after its completion. RESULTS: Patients showed higher enthusiasm after the appointment (4.47 + or - 0.06 versus 2.62 + or - 0.10) (mean + or - SEM), as well as some negative remarks such as in relation to the waiting time. The time spent in the consultation was 24.66 + or - 4.45 minutes (mean + or - SEM) and the waiting time was 123.09 + or - 4.91 minutes. The physician's written orientation was fairly well recalled by the patient when the doctor's letter could be previously understood. CONCLUSION: Patients benefit from physicians who keep the focus on them. In addition, this program stimulated the students for their accomplishment of the medical course

Evaluación de los rasgos de personalidad en adultos en cuatro contextos socioculturales diferentes / Evaluation of the personality in adults of 4 different socio-cultural contexts

Esta investigación es una evaluación de los rasgos de personalidad de cuatro grupos de diferentes contextos socioculturales. La medición se realizó a través del cuestionario 16 PF de Raymond Cattel. Se evaluaron los factores primarios y los secundarios y se realizó la comparación intergrupal, en ambos niveles

Uso del tiempo libre y personalidad / The use of spare time and personality

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar comparativamente los perfiles de personalidad correspondientes a dos grupos de sujetos que manifestaron estar satisfechos o insatisfechos con el uso de su tiempo libre. Para medir la personalidad fue aplicado el Test 16 Factores de Personalidad (16 P.F.) de Cattell. La muestra estaba integrada por 300 sujetos argentinos (37% de sexo masculino y 63% de sexo femenino) pertenecientes a distintos estratos socioeconómicos, cuyas edades oscilaban entre 15 y 22 años y todos residían en la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Para estudiar comparativamente las estructuras de personalidad de ambos grupos (satisfechos e insatisfechos con el uso del tiempo libre) se aplicó la técnica de análisis de perfiles para dos grupos independientes