Exploring the Relationship between Socioemotional Skills and Decision-Making Styles in Health Students

Abstract

Higher education in health study programs is particularly focused on the development of technical skills, despite there being a consensus on the importance of training students regarding socioemotional and life skills. The aim of this study was to characterize and explore correlations between socioemotional skills and decision-making styles in undergraduate health students. Undergraduate students (18–25 years old) were recruited at a School of Health Sciences in Portugal. Participants were characterized in terms of sociodemographic data, socioemotional skills (Study on Social and Emotional Skills questionnaire) and decision-making styles (Melbourne Decision Making questionnaire). Descriptive statistics and correlations between questionnaires´ subscales were calculated. Students presented higher scores in tolerance (34.8±3.4), cooperation (34.7±2.4), empathy (31.1±3.2), vigilance (16.0±1.9), and procrastination (9.9±2.1). Assertiveness presented negative correlations with buck-passing (rho=-0.43, p<0.01) and procrastination (rho=-0.38, p<0.01) and positive correlation with vigilance (rho=0.22, p=0.03). Students demonstrated higher values in empathy, cooperation, and tolerance skills, meaning they tend to be kind and care for others’ well-being. Vigilance style is related to assertiveness characterizing hard working leaders able to pay attention to others’ needs. Training that involves socioemotional skills might be crucial for the style of decision-making in future health professionals.