Empathy, personality traits, and emotional management in 2nd and 4th-year dentistry students: a single-center study

BMC Medical Education

Willi Wetzel¹  Jasmina Sterz²  Vanessa Britz³  Teresa Schreckenbach⁴  Wolf O Bechstein⁴  Christian Lermen⁴ 

[1] Department of Oral Surgery and Implantology, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Carolinum, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt/Main, Germany;Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt/Main, Germany;Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt interdisciplinary simulation center FIneST, Medical Faculty, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany;Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Department of General, Visceral, Transplantation and Thoracic Surgery, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt University Hospital and Clinics, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596, Frankfurt/Main, Germany;

关键词: Empathy;    Personality inventory;    Emotional intelligence;    Dental students;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-021-03080-1

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPatients fearing dental interventions are at risk of delaying or skipping much-needed treatments. Empathic communication could lead to a higher rate of compliance from patients within this group. Empathy, the big five personality traits, and emotion management abilities are all known to influence the quality of communication between dentists and patients. This study was conducted to analyze whether there is a correlation between these factors in dentistry students.MethodsDentistry students in their 2nd and 4th year of study were asked to complete questionnaires assessing empathy, emotion management, and personality traits. Out of a total of 148 eligible participants, 53 students (34%) volunteered to participate. For empathy, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (students’ version; JSPE-S) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were used. Personality traits were assessed using the Short Big Five Inventory (BFI-s), and the Situational Test of Emotional Management (STEM) to measure emotional management ability.ResultsHigher scores for emotion management were significantly correlated with the female gender (p ≤ 0.005) and with higher scores in openness (p ≤ 0.05). Students with higher scores in openness also achieved higher scores on the IRI subscales: Perspective taking (p ≤ 0.05), Fantasy (p ≤ 0.01), Empathic concern (p ≤ 0.05), and Personal distress (p ≤ 0.05). For JSPE-S, no correlation with emotion management and personality traits was found.ConclusionEmpathy and emotion management might not be significantly related in dentistry students. Regarding personality traits, students who scored higher on openness also indicated higher abilities in emotion management. These findings should be taken into consideration when planning communication courses for dentistry students, as it might be possible to independently train empathy and emotion management as part of emotional intelligence.

【 授权许可】

CC BY