How the Big Five Personality Traits Impact the Wellbeing of Veterinary Professionals | Episode 53 | Reviving Vet Med

The Big Five Personality Traits—Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism—are key factors in shaping how individuals think, feel, and behave in different environments. These traits help explain personal differences in how we approach challenges, relationships, and stressors. In high-pressure fields like veterinary medicine, understanding these personality traits can offer valuable insights into how professionals cope with the demands of their work, manage stress, and interact with colleagues and clients.

In this episode, we delve into the connection between the Big Five personality traits and the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals. We explore how traits like neuroticism and conscientiousness influence stress, burnout, and resilience among veterinary students and practitioners. Drawing on recent research, we discuss how these traits contribute to personal and professional challenges and offer strategies for navigating them. This episode provides a deeper understanding of how personality affects wellbeing in veterinary medicine, with practical takeaways for improving mental health.

Resources
Big 5 Personality Test: https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test

Characteristics of Veterinary Students: Perfectionism, Personality Factors, and Resilience: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32412364/

The Effect of Personality on Occupational Stress in Veterinary Surgeons: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28206844/

Exploring Valued Personality Traits in Practicing Veterinarians: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34478356/

The big five personality traits, perfectionism and their association with mental health among UK students on professional degree programmes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32487181/

Merck Animal Health Veterinary Team study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39032503/

Work-life balance is essential to reducing burnout, improving well-being: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38729208/

Name them to tame them (Ep. 1): https://revivingvetmed.buzzsprout.com/2011463/episodes/10874187-name-them-to-tame-them-episode-1-reviving-vet-med

Meditation for veterinary skeptics (Ep. 16): https://revivingvetmed.buzzsprout.com/2011463/episodes/10874187-name-them-to-tame-them-episode-1-reviving-vet-med

Can perfectionism lead to burnout? (Ep. 27): https://revivingvetmed.buzzsprout.com/2011463/episodes/11866432-can-perfectionism-lead-to-burnout-episode-27-reviving-vet-med

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Transcript

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Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Reviving Vet Med. Today we're unpacking a fascinating and important topic, the Big five personality traits and how they relate to veterinary professionals. In this episode, we're going to explore the history of the Big five personality traits, break down what each trait means and discuss the impact they have on our mental health, stress levels and resilience, especially, of course, in the context of vet medicine. I'll also be sharing some research on how these traits show up in veterinary students and professionals and what we can learn from these findings to better support our well being in this demanding profession. So whether you're a seasoned veterinarian or a student just starting out, this episode will give you some valuable insights into how personality can shape your experience in the veterinary world. Let's go ahead and get into the episode.

This is the Reviving Vet Med podcast and I'm your host, Dr. Marie Holowaychuk. My mission is to improve the mental health and well being of veterinary professionals around the world. So the Big five personality traits are also known as the Five Factor Model or FFM These are one of the most widely researched and validated frameworks for understanding human personality. The traits emerged in the mid 20th century from a variety of studies designed to quantify the dimensions of personality. So what makes the Big 5 special? While these traits are considered to be universal across cultures and societies, the Big Five traits are Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. In case you need an acronym to remember these, you can think of ocean or canoe.

So each of these traits exists on a continuum, meaning that we all fall somewhere along a spectrum for each one and understanding where you fall on this spectrum can give you valuable insights into how you interact with the world, work with others and cope with challenges. And I'll link to a big five personality quiz in the show notes if you want to take the test and see where you fall for each of these described traits. So let's dive deeper into each of these five traits and explore what they mean in the context of veterinary practice. As we go through these, I want you to reflect on where you fall on each trait spectrum. And I can promise you that even if you don't take the quiz, you'll probably be able to gauge your own personality based on these descriptions that I share.

So the first one is openness to experience. And this is about how curious, imaginative and creative you are. People who are high in openness tend to be open minded, willing to explore new things and enjoy novelty. They might be more willing to try new treatment methods and practice, or explore innovative ways to improve patient care or efficiency within their work. So on the other hand, individuals who are low in openness prefer routine tradition familiarity. They might be more comfortable sticking to well established practices and might find rapid changes or novel approaches unsettling. Now we know that vet medicine is a field that is constantly evolving, whether it be with new technologies, techniques or research. And a high level of openness can be a huge asset in adapting to these changes and staying up to date with advancements in care.

Of course, too much openness without a grounding in the foundational knowledge and clinical standards can lead to a lot of decision fatigue or overextending a person into new areas without mastery. So balance really is key. And from my own experience, I found that being open to new ideas has really helped me to navigate challenges creatively. I used to consider myself pretty close minded. I used to be, you know, set in my ways and just wanting to do things the way I'd always been taught or the way I'd always done them. But over the years I have been able to cultivate this openness to trying things in different ways and recognizing that there's many ways to approach problems or certainly to approach cases.

And while there are times when a strong foundation of tried and true methods are important, you know, especially in high stress situations in practice where we need to just go back to basics, I definitely think that being open to new ideas is really important. And when it comes to the big picture now, the second trait is conscientiousness. And conscientiousness refers to how organized, responsible and goal oriented a person is. High conscientiousness is associated with Being very disciplined, detail oriented and dependable. People who are high in conscientiousness tend to be excellent at managing their time, following through on tasks and maintaining high standards of performance. So in veterinary practice, conscientiousness is crucial because, of course, the nature of the job requires that attention to detail, whether it's reviewing a patient's record or preparing medications or handling a complex surgery.

So veterinarians who score high in conscientiousness are often meticulous in their approach and make sure that they have the highest level of care for their patients. Unfortunately, those who are very high with conscientiousness may struggle with perfectionism or taking on too much responsibility, or not being able to delegate tasks. And I'm sure this sounds familiar to many of you, it certainly does for me. But this can lead to burnout if it's not managed carefully. So as someone who tends toward high consciousness myself, conscientiousness, I should say, and high consciousness, I know firsthand how it can be both a strength and a challenge. And again, it's great for delivering thorough patient care.

But I have definitely learned how to set limits and take breaks, especially when I'm in a really high demand role, such as, you know, being a practicing ER doctor or an ICU specialist. And again, that is done to prevent burnout. The third trait is extroversion. And extroversion is about how outgoing, sociable and energetic a person is. Extroverted individuals really like being around people. They thrive in social settings and they often seek excitement and stimulation. And in contrast, introverts tend to prefer being alone and are more reserved in social interactions. And certainly for a deep dive into introversion versus extroversion, I encourage you to read the book Quiet by Susan Cain, one of the best books on the topic I have read.

And I think in the veterinary setting, the common belief is that most veterinarians tend to be introverts, and many of our veterinary team members, our support team members, tend to be extroverts. So in the veterinary setting, an extrovert is going to excel in things like client communication and team collaboration. They might really enjoy building strong relationships with clients and co workers, and certainly their enthusiasm can really uplift the team, especially in high pressure situations. But the demands of client interactions and teamwork can sometimes be overwhelming for people who are high in extroversion. And that high social interaction without enough time to recharge can lead to emotional exhaustion for anybody. And of course, much more commonly among introverts, if they're not having enough time to recharge on their own.

So we'll talk about this a little bit later when we dive into veterinary research studies. But I'm sure many of you have an idea of where you fall on the introversion extraversion continuum. I'm definitely an introvert by what the score says, but my extroversion score is moderate, meaning that I do tend toward extroversion in certain situations. Some might refer to me as an ambivert, and this can be said for my ability to deliver a keynote or facilitate a group discussion, which of course requires that extroverted energy and tapping into that extraversion trait. But my tendency in most other circumstances is very small group settings or even just one one connection, if not alone time. So the fourth trait is agreeableness. And agreeableness refers to how cooperative, empathetic and trusting you are toward other people.

People who are high in agreeableness tend to be kind, compassionate and diplomatic. They really value positive social relationships and are often more willing to collaborate or compromise to keep the peace. So in veterinary practice you can imagine that a high agreeable individual will excel in client relationships. They are often the ones who create a calm, compassionate environment in the clinic. Their empathy and willingness to help others can be crucial in managing emotionally charged situations with clients. However, people who score high in agreeableness might struggle to assert themselves or set boundaries. So from a well being perspective, they might take on too much responsibility, leading to burnout or resentment if they feel they're always putting others' needs first. And I've certainly seen this play out many times in the veterinary field.

Highly agreeable individuals are often the glue that holds teams together, but without clear boundaries they can easily become overwhelmed. So it is important to practice assertiveness and prioritize our well being in the midst of this agreeableness trait. Now, the last trait is neuroticism, and this is a trait that comes up a lot in veterinary studies. In the context of well-being, Neuroticism measures our emotional stability or how prone a person is to negative emotions like sadness, anxiety and irritability. Those who are high in neuroticism may experience more frequent mood swings and may be more sensitive to stress. So we know that veterinary practice is a high stress situation. So individuals high in neuroticism may find it harder to cope with the emotional and mental demands of the job.

High levels of anxiety, depression or anger can affect decision making, client communication and the dynamics of the team. It's really important therefore to be aware of this trait, which can help individuals develop coping strategies to manage their stress and build that emotional resilience. For me, as someone who has experienced burnout many times myself, I understand firsthand how neuroticism can impact our emotional responses to stress. Certainly in my work with coaching veterinary professionals and doing some of my team trainings around team wellbeing and workplace mental health, I've found that managing negative emotions with strategies like mindfulness, breathing techniques, certainly mental health therapy and self care is really crucial, especially for those with higher neuroticism scores or higher traits of neuroticism.

So now that we understand what each of the Big five traits entails, I want to share some of the research that explores how these traits manifest among both veterinary students and veterinary professionals. So the first study I want to highlight is titled Characteristics of Veterinary Perfectionism, Personality Factors and Resilience, and this was published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical education back in 2020 by Chelsea Holden. This study assessed the relationship between perfectionism, the big five personality traits, and resilience among 99 vet students, and they use three different scoring systems to measure these, including the Multidimensional Perfectionism inventory or the MPI, the Big 5 inventory or the BFI, and the brief resilience scale or the BRS. And the findings suggest that perfectionism, particularly self oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism, is strongly linked to neuroticism, while self oriented perfectionism also correlates with conscientiousness.

So this makes sense, right? Self oriented perfectionism is the perfectionism that we demand of ourselves. So it makes sense that if we are high with traits like neuroticism and conscientiousness, we are going to demand a lot from ourselves. As far as striving for flawlessness, socially prescribed perfectionism is the perfectionism that we perceive that others expect of us. This is strongly linked to neuroticism, which again I think makes sense. What the study concluded is that addressing these perfectionistic tendencies could help build resilience and ultimately improve student mental health outcomes. And this link with these forms of perfectionism and neuroticism and conscientiousness is vital for educators and any mental health professionals who are working to better support vet students.

So in my own journey I definitely found that perfectionism often shows up as a way to strive for excellence, but it can also lead to negative outcomes when expectations become too rigid or unrealistic. And I've definitely seen firsthand how perfectionism can lead to burnout and stress among veterinary professionals. And I'll link to episode 27 in the show notes that episode was can perfectionism lead to burnout so that you can listen back to this because I think it's really important to understand this relationship if you are a person who is high on the neuroticism trait or you know that you experience perfectionism because that will put you at risk of burnout. So the next study was published in BMC Psychology in 2020 by Eliza Lewis and Jacqueline Cardwell.

This study explored the relationship between big five personality traits, perfectionism and mental health in students enrolled across many professional programs in the UK, including vet medicine, human medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and law. The title was personality traits and mental health among professional students. A total of 1744 students completed multiple online surveys that measured their personality traits, their perfectionism scores, their wellbeing, their levels of psychological distress and their depression. And the results showed that veterinary, medical and dentistry students were all significantly more agreeable than law students. Which I just think is hilarious when we think of law students and what they're ultimately going to become. Interestingly, vet students had the lowest perfectionism scores among the groups identified. And high neuroticism and low conscientiousness amongst all of the groups were predictive of increased mental ill health.

So there was more likely to have depression and psychological distress among those students with high neuroticism and low conscientiousness regardless of what professional studies they were engaged in. So this really highlights that certain personality traits are more reliably linked to poor mental health outcomes. I don't think we should just think of those students with perfectionism as needing support when it comes to their well being and burnout. It really seems like going deeper to uncover these other traits like neuroticism and low conscientiousness. I think that is probably going to be more beneficial. I do think it is interesting to note that neuroticism played a more significant role rather than perfectionism among these students. And you know, it's interesting too that students' perfectionism scores were lower, which again tells me that it is probably more of the neuroticism that is playing a role.

So again, briefly it is worth looking deeper into neuroticism and ways that we can cope with that trait to better support wellbeing. And we'll talk about that at the end when we talk about coping strategies. So the next study was titled Personality and Occupational Stress in Veterinary Surgeons. This was published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education and explored the role of personality traits in predicting work related stress among veterinary surgeons in the UK. And the study included 311 veterinary surgeons or veterinarians who completed an online survey that was looking at the MASLACH Burnout Inventory, the Five Factor Inventory, and also job related stress. And they showed that personality is a better predictor of job related stress than environmental factors. So I think we often blame veterinary medicine on our stress levels and it may be more significantly related to our personality.

And neuroticism, not surprisingly emerged as the key trait significantly linked to higher work related stress. And they also found that depression and anger hostility were also the primary components of neuroticism that contributed to that stress. So the authors concluded that personality traits, especially neuroticism, should be considered during the veterinary school process so that we can identify those who are at high risk of high stress and make sure that we are offering interventions and support to those individuals. And again, this is a study that resonates with me deeply. I have definitely seen traits like neuroticism and that tendency towards emotional instability lead to high levels of stress and burnout both in myself and in others whom I've worked with or whom I've coached. And I think that again, more information is needed in this area.

So another study that has been published was called Personality Traits Valued in Veterinary Practice. This was published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education as well and examines the differences in the big five personality traits between members and non members of the veterinary community, specifically small animal veterinarians. So the data was collected from an online survey that was administered between the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020 to Veterinary Office clients or pet owners and individuals practicing or training in vet medicine across a U.S. Midwestern state. Participants answer demographic questions as well as 10 Likert scale items regarding the personality traits they valued most in a veterinarian. So a Likert scale question is I value these highly or extremely high versus not at all and you gauge that on a scale of 1 to 10.

So the results showed that veterinary professionals valued openness more than clients but valued emotional stability less. Clients, on the other hand, placed a high importance on a veterinarian's emotional stability or ability to handle adversity. This study. So not only did it highlight this difference between client perception and veterinary professional perception, it also highlighted generational differences. Young adults aged 18 to 24 valued extroversion more than older age groups, but were least concerned with agreeableness. Conversely, those aged 55 and older valued agreeableness and emotional stability more than the younger participants aged 18 to 44. So some really interesting findings here that suggest that there are significant differences in how vets and clients value personality traits which have implications for veterinary education and practice. If clients really value the ability to handle adversity or this emotional stability, that's something we should really think about working towards.

This study also recommended that veterinary medical education should focus on developing skills related to these valued traits, including creativity, openness and of course, emotional stability. And that is of course to build lasting relationships with both clients and members of the team. So from my perspective, the traits that we as professionals value often influence how we interact with clients and colleagues. I definitely think that emotional stability is especially important for building trust with clients, and this is why I often incorporate emotional agility or emotional intelligence training in my programs so that individuals can better recognize and manage their emotions.

And we've got a couple of blog posts about emotional agility and emotional intelligence and I'll link to those in the show notes and I will also refer you way Back to episode 2 Name them to Tame Them to learn more about the importance of identifying and naming our emotions to improve our emotional intelligence. So another study that was published was called Well Being, Burnout and Mental Health among Non Veterinarian Practice team members. This 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Vet Med association looked at wellbeing, burnout and mental health of non veterinarian employees within veterinary practices and they compared these factors to those of veterinarians and the general population. So for those of you who are probably guessing, this is the Merck Animal Health Veterinary wellbeing study, the fourth study among vets and the second study among non veterinarians.

So there were 2,271 non vet practice employees from various veterinary associations and hospitals that took the survey in the fall of 2023. And what they found is that personality traits like neuroticism were linked to lower well being scores, poorer mental health and higher levels of burnout and that neuroticism was a predictor of these outcomes. So again, this is a really interesting finding. Again looking at this neuroticism or this tendency towards emotional instability and the fact that this is closely linked to poor wellbeing, poor mental health and higher levels of burnout. So this finding was also found in the partner study to that research study. This was titled the Importance of Work Life Balance in Reducing Burnout. Again, took the findings specifically of the more than 4,600 veterinarians that completed the Merck Veterinary Health Wellbeing Study.

And similarly they found that neuroticism was identified as a predictor of low well being, poor mental health and burnout among veterinarians. And interestingly Veterinarians scored higher for neuroticism compared to non veterinarians. So something interesting there. And again, I can't stress this enough. I think really focusing on identifying those of us who do have high levels of neuroticism and really making sure that we are implementing that in our veterinary school training, our veterinary technician and nursing training, and also our postgraduate training, you know, at conferences and so on, to really cultivate ways that we can really promote and nurture this emotional stability. So collectively, these studies show that the personality traits, particularly perfectionism and neuroticism, really do have a significant impact on mental health and resilience of all veterinary professionals, whether students, practicing vets or members of the veterinary team.

And it's clear that our mental health is really deeply intertwined with our personality and henceforth the coping strategies that we use. So at the end of the day, what can we learn from all of this? I want to leave you with some practical takeaways. You know me, I love going through the research and talking about the evidence and getting a good understanding and a good groundwork or framework, I guess, for really how we should think about this. But at the end of the day, what do we do moving forward? One of the first things I think that comes out of all of this information is the importance of developing self awareness. By reflecting on your own personality traits, you can gain big insights into how you respond to stress, how you handle conflict, and how you interact with clients.

This self awareness, I always say to people, is the first step towards making change. This is the first step towards improving your wellbeing. Because if you don't first have the awareness of who you are and what your tendencies can be, then how are you supposed to change? Okay, so step one, develop that self awareness. Step two is to focus on building resilience. So if you are a person who scores high in neuroticism, it is so important for you to focus on building emotional resilience. You can do this through mindfulness, through meditation, and through cognitive reframing, which I have learned really in really wonderful ways, either through therapy or through coaching. And I will link to my episode on the importance of meditation or the benefits of meditation as well.

But there are so many skills and tools that can be learned to help you manage negative emotions and in turn boost your wellbeing and also avoid burnout, which is so important as well. Another strategy or key takeaway is to set clear boundaries. So especially for those of you who are highly agreeable or very conscientious individuals, you need to learn to set clear, healthy boundaries. And this was our last episode where we talked about how to set healthy boundaries. You need to recognize that it's okay to say no. And it's really important that you do say no so that you can protect your time and energy and again, keep your well being high and stave off that burnout. And then last but not least, I think a big takeaway and practical application for this is to practice self compassion.

This is something I talk about a lot as well. For those of you who are high in neuroticism and more likely to tend towards perfectionism, self compassion is really key. It is okay not to be perfect. You are not alone in making mistakes. This is a common human experience. And yes, it sucks, it's painful, it's awful. But it's so important to be kind to yourself when things don't go as planned or when mistakes happen. So once again that you can reduce that burnout and preserve your mental health and well being. So that's it for this episode of Reviving Vet Meant. I hope this episode has provided you with valuable insights into your own personality and how it might be influencing your experiences in the veterinary profession.

If you're a student veterinarian or part of a veterinary team, I encourage you to reflect on these traits and consider how they might shape your approach to work and life. I have included links to all of the resources that I mentioned in the show notes, so please check those out. And please take a moment to forward this episode to a colleague or co worker who you think would enjoy it as well. We would really appreciate it if you would subscribe to the podcast so that you're sure to get the new episodes as soon as they are released. If you're interested in following us on social media where we share tips and strategies for well being in vet medicine, please find us at Reviving Vet Med.

And if you have questions about today's episode, suggestions for future topics, or inquiries about sponsorship, please email us at podcast reviving that med.com I'd like to thank Asia and her team at BearBeat Productions for producing this episode, and I'd like to thank you for listening through to the end. I hope you'll tune in next time. In the meantime, take care of yourself. Bye for now.