The Role of Temperament and Personality in Medical Students Coping Strategies Preference

Abstract

In this study we examined the role of temperament and personality traits in the preferred coping strategies among medical students. Personality traits were identified by means of The Big Five Personality Test,the aspects of temperament–by the Pavlovian Temperament Survey; to determine coping strategies two methods were employed: The Coping Strategies Indicator by J. Amirkhan and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire by R. Lazarus. The study involved 632 first-and second-year students of Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University. Based on the results four integral personality types were identified.Temperamental characteristicswere shown to contribute more to these types compared to personality traits. For all the personality types the most common copingstrategies were the following: accepting responsibility, planful problem-solving, positive reappraisal, self-controland seeking social support.Two different hierarchical structures of coping strategies were identified: the “Socially adaptive sanguine” was characterized with the planful problem-solving as thefirst-choice coping strategy whereas for the “Socially distanced opportunist” we identified multivariate structure of coping strategies–a few adaptive copings werethe most frequently chosen and an escape-avoidance strategy wasin the middle of the list.“Socially adaptive sanguine” type was associated witha “sanguine” type of temperament, extroversion, social orientation, self-control, and a disposition to rethink problems creatively. “Socially distanced opportunist” in turn was characterized witha balanced, but moderately strong, inert nervous system; introversion, the tendency for social separation, emotional restraint, practical orientation of behavior, experiencing difficulties in managing their own behavior.