Abstract
Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between personality traits and attitudes toward learning communication skills in undergraduate medical students. The relation between students’ attitudes and personality trait could help us identify those who those who will need more support to develop communication skills, based on their personality traits.Methods: The data was collected data from an intentional and cross-sectional sample composed of 204 students from three Brazilian universities. The students answered questionnaires containing the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS-BR) and the Big Five Mini-Markers (BFMM) for personality. Data were analyzed using frequency calculations, principal components analysis, and the multiple linear regression model.Results: Seven among 26 items of the original Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) presented factor loads lower than |0.30| and must be excluded in the CSAS -BR that showed one domain including positive and negative attitudes. The value of Cronbach’s alpha of the 19-item scale was 0.894. The BFMM showed similar dimensional results with five domains with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.804 for Extroversion, 0.753 for agreeableness, 0.755 for conscientiousness, 0.780 for neuroticism and 0.668 for openness. There were positive and statically significant linear associations with the CSAS-BR and agreeableness (β: 0.230, p<0.001), extraversion (β: 0.150, p=0.030), and openness to experience (β: 0.190, p=0.010). These personality factors drive social interactions and interpersonal relations, which involve the tendency to be friendly, flexible, and cooperative; to show a willing disposition; and the ability to actively engage with others. Conclusions: Based on the methods applied in this study, the results demonstrated a relation between agreeableness, extraversion and openness to experience with attitudes on communication skills in students from three Brazilian universities. Our results suggest that the evaluation of personality traits can contribute to the recognition of students for whom the establishment of special teaching strategies can improve communication skills.
Highlights
The physicians’communication skills have been related with better outcomes in healthcare [1,2,3].Considering the importance of communication in the healthcare practice, medical associations and educational guideleines, have advocated for the students’ learning of communication skills since the beginning of medical training [4,5,6,7,8]
Medical students learning of the communication skills are influenced by their attitudes [9,10,11], and studies have found that medical training may negatively affect students’ attitudes toward communication
If personality traits are associated with attitudes toward learning, the identification and analysis of these traits could support teachers to promote teaching activities tailored for personality dimensions, or even support the development of personal elements alongside with technical training
Summary
Considering the importance of communication in the healthcare practice, medical associations and educational guideleines, have advocated for the students’ learning of communication skills since the beginning of medical training [4,5,6,7,8]. Medical students learning of the communication skills are influenced by their attitudes [9,10,11], and studies have found that medical training may negatively affect students’ attitudes toward communication [12, 13]. Considering that students attitudes toward learning may be influenced by personal characteristics [12,13,14], students’ personality traits may play an important role [15]. Despite the numerous studies on students’ attitudes toward learning communication skills, the role of personality traits on students’ attitudes toward learning communication skills has been poorly investigated
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