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. 2021 Dec 8;18(24):12927.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182412927.

Personality Dimensions of Serbian Lifeguards

Goran Dimitrić  1 , Nebojša Maksimović  1 , Elena Tabakova  2 , Milorad Jakšić  1 , Dejan Orlić  1 , Selka Sadiković  3 , Dea Karaba-Jakovljević  4 , Nataša Zenić  5 , Patrik Drid  1
Affiliations

Personality Dimensions of Serbian Lifeguards

Goran Dimitrić et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) global drowning report (2017), drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Drowning can occur anywhere there is water: oceans, seas, lakes, pools, bathtubs, rivers or water collection on the side of the road, etc. In many countries, there are drowning prevention programs for children and adults. The two most commonly used strategiesagainst drowning are the presence of lifeguards in public places and the use of protected areas that could prevent most of the drownings. The main aim of the present study is to examine the individual differences in a Big Five plus Two (BF+2) personality traits in lifeguards and non-lifeguards (including students). The subsample of lifeguards represented 122 male respondents who were, at the time of the survey, licensed as lifeguards (60.9%) or were in training for lifeguards-candidates (39.1%). The subsample of students represented 138 male respondents who were studying at the University of Novi Sad. The results indicate that lifeguards in comparison to students are more extraverted, open to experience, and conscientious, less neurotic, and aggressive. Both positive and negative valence are higher in student subsample. All of the above traits are desirable traits for people working as lifeguards.

Keywords: aggression; conscientious; drowning; neuroticism; personality traits.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences between lifeguards and students on the dimensions of the BF+2 questionnaire (Z—scores).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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