Profiling health professionals’ personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence: a systematic review

Abstract

Background Non-cognitive traits have been theorised to predict characteristics, career choice and outcomes of health professionals and could represent a homogenous group. This study aims to profile and compare personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence of health practitioners across a variety of professions. Methods Empirical literature was systematically reviewed. A two-concept search strategy was applied to four databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest). Title/abstract and full text articles were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data was synthesised narratively and meta-aggregated where feasible. Results Three hundred twenty-one studies representing 153 assessment tools of personality (n = 83 studies), behaviour (n = 8), and emotional intelligence (n = 62) were included. Most studies (n = 171) explored personality (medicine, nursing, nursing assistants, dentistry, allied health, paramedics), revealing variation in traits across professions. Behaviour styles were least measured with only ten studies exploring these across four health professions (nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, psychology). Emotional intelligence (n = 146 studies) varied amongst professions (medicine, nursing, dentistry, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiology) with all exhibiting average to above-average scores. Conclusion Personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence are all key characteristics of health professionals reported in the literature. There is both heterogeneity and homogeneity within and between professional groups. The characterisation and understanding of these non-cognitive traits will aid health professionals to understand their own non-cognitive features and how these might be useful in predicting performance with potential to adapt these to enhance success within their chosen profession.

Healthcare employment as a risk factor for functional neurological disorder: A case–control study

“…Finally, it could be hypothesized that certain personality traits, behavior styles and emotional intelligence drive the choice to choose healthcare as a profession. In fact, some common personality traits have been found among all healthcare professionals, such as low levels of neuroticism and high prevalence of agreeable, cooperative, and self‐directed traits [37], whereas differences have been noted among different healthcare professions regarding behavior style and emotional intelligence, including coping and external locus of control [37]. These factors may constitute vulnerability to develop FND but the literature on the topic is still scarce and more studies are warranted before an association can be demonstrated.…”