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. 2023 Dec 12;10(1):e23625.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23625. eCollection 2024 Jan 15.

Personality traits and workplace bullying among contract trainee doctors in Malaysia

Halim Ismail  1 , Dzualkamal Dawam  1 , Nor Azila Muhd Aris  1 , Sheng Qian Yew  1 , Hanis Ahmad  1 , Chan Chee Hoong David  1 , Mohd Hafiz Baharudin  1 , Zhe Shen Huam  1 , Hibatul Hakimi Jamaludin  1
Affiliations

Personality traits and workplace bullying among contract trainee doctors in Malaysia

Halim Ismail et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Introduction: Workplace bullying (WPB) among trainee doctors is a concerning problem in Malaysia. However, there is still limited understanding regarding the influence of trainee doctors' personality traits on WPB. Furthermore, the impact of contract employment status on WPB among trainee doctors is not yet well-defined. To address these gaps, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of WPB among trainee doctors and to examine the association of sociodemographic characteristics, job characteristics, and personality traits with WPB among trainee doctors in Malaysia.

Methods: A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted with 264 trainee doctors in Selangor, Malaysia. Eligible participants were provided with sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, job characteristics questionnaire, WPB questionnaire, and the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between: (i) sociodemographic characteristics and WPB, (ii) job characteristics and WPB; and (iii) personality traits and WPB. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between the significant independent variables (as determined from Chi-square tests) and WPB.

Results: The prevalence of WPB was 45.1 %, with verbal abuse being the most common form of bullying (46.2 %). Chi-square test showed that only marital status and low agreeableness were significantly associated with WPB. Subsequently, multiple logistic regression demonstrated that being married (OR: 1.866; 95 % CI: 1.077-3.234) and low agreeableness (OR: 2.287; 95 % CI: 1.169-4.473) were significant predictors of WPB.

Conclusion: The high prevalence of WPB among trainee doctors could be attributed by marriage and low agreeableness personality traits in this population. In order to minimise WPB and maximise workforce potential, it is essential for healthcare institutions and medical training programmes to recognise this vulnerabilities and take steps to protect and support trainee doctors who are married and/or with low agreeableness personality trait.

Keywords: Contract trainee doctors; Personality traits; Workplace bullying.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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