Exploring temperament and character traits in medical students; a new approach to increase the rural workforce

Figures & data

Table

Practice points
Better understanding of traits dominant in a medical discipline could provide an adjunct to undergraduate career guidance. This study identified a different profile of temperament and character traits in students according to career intention. Future research may determine it appropriate to counsel students who have an interest in and portray traits best suited for a rural career.

Table 1.  Temperament and character descriptors

Temperament	High scorers	Low scorers
HA	Worrying & pessimistic	Relaxed & optimistic
Harm Avoidance	fearful & doubtful	bold & confident
	shy, fatigable	outgoing, vigorous
NS	Exploratory & curious	Indifferent, reflective
Novelty Seeking	impulsive, disorderly	frugal & detached
	extravagant & enthusiastic	orderly & regimented
RD	Sentimental & warm	Practical & cold
Reward Dependence	dedicated & attached	withdrawn & detached
	dependent	independent
PS	Industrious & diligent	Inactive & indolent
Persistence	hard-working	gives up easily
	ambitious & overachiever	modest & underachiever
	perseverant & perfectionist	quitting & pragmatist
Character
SD	Responsible & reliable	Blaming & unreliable
Self Directness	purposeful, self accepted	purposeless, self-striving
	resourceful & effective	inert & ineffective
	habits congruent with long term goals	habits congruent with short term goals
CO	Socially tolerant	Socially intolerant
Cooperativeness	empathic, helpful	critical, unhelpful
	compassionate & constructive	revengeful & destructive
	ethical & principled	opportunistic
ST	Wise & patient	Impatient
Self Transcendence	creative & self-forgetful	unimaginative & self-conscious
	united with universe	pride & lack of humility

Taken from Cloninger et al. 1994.

Table 2.  Distribution of respondents according their demographic characteristics

Demographic characteristics	Number	Percent
Year of MBBS:
First	37	19
Second	32	17
Third	93	49
Fourth	29	15
Total	191	100
Gender:
Male	109	40
Female	163	60
Total	272	100
Age:
20–25 years	126	48
26–30 years	91	34
Over 30 years	48	18
Total	265	100
Marital status:
Married	32	12
Single	176	65
Partnered	64	23
Total	272	100
Level of intent in rural medicine:
Low intent	70	26
Medium intent	73	27
High intent	129	47
Total	272	100
Rural background:
Yes	82	32
No	177	68
Total	259	100

Table 3.  Comparison of student TCI dimensions by origin, gender and level of intent to practise rural medicine

		NS Novelty seeking			HA Harm avoidance			RD Reward dependence			PS Persistence			SD Self directedness			CO Cooperativeness			ST Self transcendence
Origin	N	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value
Rural	82	55.43	9.52	0.02	53.13	11.47	0.46	67.87	9.12	1.70	72.84	10.01	0.89	77.52	9.99	0.85	81.48	8.43	0.20	42.06	12.36	0.82
Urban	176	55.45	8.20		53.87	12.00		70.13	10.36		73.97	9.17		76.33	10.15		81.24	8.61		43.31	10.88
Gender	N	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value	M	SD	T value
Male	109	56.42	7.19	1.41	50.64	11.71	3.30**	66.12	9.48	4.45**	72.83	10.05	−1.20	76.27	10.36	0.79	79.21	8.89	3.47**	42.83	12.33	−0.15
Female	162	55.04		8.31	55.36	11.43		71.46	9.84		74.26	9.24		77.25	9.76		82.80	7.95		43.05	10.77
Intent level	N	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value	M	SD	F value
Low	70	55.90	6.91	0.38	56.07	12.21	5.27*	68.53	10.61	0.74	73.30	9.36	0.94	74.19	10.24	7.60**	79.20	8.28	5.33**	41.23	10.04	2.78
Medium	73	55.70	9.04		55.15	12.31		68.70	9.88		72.64	10.81		74.71	11.12		80.47	8.64		41.63	12.14
High	128	54.90	9.16		51.08	10.75		70.09	9.81		74.49	8.93		79.17†	9.11		83.12††	8.27		44.67	11.38

M = mean, SD = Standard deviation; *Significant at p ≤ 0.01; **Significant at p ≤ 0.001; †High intention students different from low and medium intention students; ††High intention students different from low intention students.

Cloninger CR, Przybeck TR, Svrakic DM, Wetzel RD. The Temperament and Character Inventory: A Guide to its Development and Use. Center for Psychobiology of Personality, Washington University, St Louise, Missouri 1994, ISBN: 0-9642917-1-1

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