Association between proactive personality and professional identity of nursing undergraduates: The mediating role of resilience and irrational belief

Abstract

AimTo examine the relationship between proactive personality and professional identity of undergraduate nursing students, including the role of psychological resilience and irrational belief as mediators. BackgroundPersonality has been shown to play a crucial role in determining professional identity. However, the influence of proactive personality on professional identity in the nursing field is poorly understood and requires further investigation. DesignWe conducted a cross-sectional study in China. Between July and December of 2021, 860 nursing undergraduates participated in an online questionnaire survey. MethodsFour main variables (proactive personality, psychological resilience, irrational belief and professional identity) and two covariates (willingness to choose nursing profession and family attitude towards nursing) were assessed. The assessment tools chosen are both valid and reliable. To test the proposed multi-mediation model, linear regression analysis by Hayes's SPSS macro-PROCESS was used. ResultsThe results revealed that PP, PR and PI were positively connected with one another, but negatively with IB. PP positively predicted PI through direct and indirect paths, after controlling for two covariates. The percentage of indirect path (78.72%) outweighed the direct path (21.28%). The indirect effect of PR (72.51%) was higher than that of PR and IB (6.21%). PI was also positively predicted by students’ "Yes" willingness and families’ "supportive" attitude towards nursing. ConclusionThis study stated that nursing educators should take nursing students' PP seriously, which would allow for activities to be taken to improve their PR and decrease their IB, hence continuously enhancing their PI. In addition, respecting students' professional aspirations and improving family support may also be valuable ways to boost their PI.