Introduction:

Empathy is a valuable attribute for a physician, as it positively influences the doctor-patient relationship. Previous studies indicate that there is a correlation between personality and empathy in medical students, but there is no data available in the Brazilian literature so far. This study aimed to analyze the empathy and personality traits of Brazilian medical students, and investigate their association.

Methods:

First year medical students from the 2015 and 2017 cohorts had their empathy and personality traits evaluated by two instruments using the following scales, respectively: Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Students version (JSE-S) and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). A descriptive analysis comprised mean, minimum and maximum scores, correlation coefficients and linear regression of personality and empathy.

Results:

164 (96.4%) students completed the surveys, and 50.5% were women. The mean global score of the JSE-S was 117.6 ± 10.9; stratification by gender showed scores of 119.5 ± 10.5 and 115.7 ± 11.0, respectively in women and men (p<0.01). In the NEO-FFI, the domain of ‘conscientiousness’ had the highest global mean (29.1 ± 3.8) and ‘neuroticism’, the lowest (21.7 ± 4.7). In women, the highest mean was observed in ‘conscientiousness’ (29.4 ± 3.8) and the lowest in ‘open to new experiences’ (20.6 ± 3.3). In men, the highest and the lowest scores were respectively in the domains ‘conscientiousness’ (29.4 ± 3.9) and ‘neuroticism’ (21.6 ± 4.2). There was a significant difference between men and women in the global score of the JSE-S, and in the personality domains of ‘open to new experiences’ and ‘socialization’. Correlations between empathy and personality were found to be weak and not statistically relevant.

Conclusion:

The personality traits differed between men and women, but there was no significant correlation between empathy and personality among medical students enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Further investigations are needed to examine how empathy and personality modulate during medical studies using longitudinal approaches.

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