Does personality predict medical students’ attitudes to learning communication skills?

Objectives: To determine whether personality is related to medical students’ attitudes towards learning communication skills and self-ratings on communication skills. Methods: 524 firstand 507 second-year medical students completed the Communications Skills Attitudes Scale and rated their own communication skills. First-year students answered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and second-year students the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses, controlling for gender, were conducted to study the impact of personality on attitudes. Analysis of variance followed by post hoc Duncan test was used to compare differences in personality traits depending on students’ self-ratings on communication skills. Results: After controlling for gender, personality traits predicted differences in attitudes and were significantly related to medical students’ self-ratings. Medical students with higher scores on psychoticism or aggression-hostility showed worse attitudes. Students who tended to have a better self-image scored higher on extraversion, psychoticism, impulsive-sensation seeking, or aggression-hostility traits. Conclusions: Findings support the consideration of personality traits for better student career guidance and counselling. Some students could have more difficulties to internalize certain healthcare professional competencies and show more resistance to attitude change.