INTROVERSION–EXTRAVERSION TRAITS AND CLINICAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS: A PERSPECTIVE FROM MEDICAL EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Personality is an important factor influencing the clinical learning experience and outcomes of medical students. Extraversion, in particular, affects communication ability, response to stress, and group learning effectiveness in clinical training environments. Objectives: To evaluate evidence on the influence of introversion–extraversion personality traits on the clinical learning of medical students. Materials and methods: A systematic review conducted according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Data sources included PubMed, Google Scholar, and CNKI, covering the period from 2015 to July 2025. A total of 1,358 articles were identified, with 12 selected for inclusion. Keywords in English and Chinese related to personality, medical students, and clinical learning were used. Inclusion criteria were qualitative and quantitative studies involving medical students that examined the relationship between introversion–extraversion and clinical learning. Results: Extraversion was negatively associated with academic burnout (Khanneh, 2024) and positively associated with communication competence (OR = 2.01, Tang, 2016), self-efficacy (r = 0.395, Galarneau, 2021), and satisfaction with the medical profession. Extraverted individuals demonstrated better communication and performed better in OSCE exams or PBL group learning, although no significant difference was found in GPA. The studies reported heterogeneous results, suggesting that the impact of extraversion depends on the type of assessment and learning context. Conclusions: Extraversion is a personal psychological factor that positively influences mental wellbeing, communication skills, and adaptability in learning environments. It serves a protective role in maintaining academic motivation, teamwork effectiveness, and professional engagement.
Keywords
Personality, introversion, extraversion, medical students
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
2. Bughi, Stephanie A., et al. Using a personality inventory to identify risk of distress and burnout among early stage medical students. Education for Health. 2017. 30.1: 26-30. doi: 10.4103/1357-6283.210499.
3. Schreckenbach, Teresa, et al. Emotion recognition and extraversion of medical students interact to predict their empathic communication perceived by simulated patients. BMC medical education. 2018. 18,1: 237, doi: 10.1186/s12909-018-1342-8.
4. Peters H, Garbe A, Breil SM, Oberst S, Selch S, Holzhausen Y. Big five personality traits of medical students and workplace performance in the final clerkship year using an EPA framework. BMC medical education. 2024. 24(1), 453, doi:10.1186/s12909-024-05434-x.
5. Arain SA, Alhadid DA, Rasheed S, Alrefaai MM, Alsibai TMA, Meo SA. Perceived effectiveness of learning methods among preclinical medical students - role of personality and changes over time. Pak J Med Sci. 2021. 37(7), 1854-1859, doi:10.12669/pjms.37.7.4355.
6. Wang S, Li H, Chen X, Yan N, Wen D. Learning burnout and its association with perceived stress, social support, and the Big Five personality traits in Chinese medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry. 2022. 22(1), 785, doi:10.1186/s12888-022-04453-6.
7. Nitya A, Sukhala S. Personality Traits as A Correlate of Academic Burnout among Undergraduate Medical Students. International Journal of Indian Psychology. 2023. 11, 191206, doi: 10.25215/1104.019.
8. Gabriela Frljić, Eva Jelavić, Ivona Čarapina-Zovko, Boris Jelavić. The association between the learning styles, personality traits and academic achievement of preclinical first-year medical students at the School of Medicine in Mostar. Annals of Biomedical and Clinical Research, 2023. 2(1), 14-22.
9. Hayat AA, Kohoulat N, Amini M, Faghihi SAA. The predictive role of personality traits on academic performance of medical students: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2020. 34:77, doi:10.34171/mjiri.34.77.
10. Olsson C, Lachmann H, Kalén S, Ponzer S, Mellstrand Navarro C. Personality and learning styles in relation to attitudes towards interprofessional education: a cross-sectional study on undergraduate medical students during their clinical courses. BMC Med Educ. 2020. 20(1), 398, doi:10.1186/s12909-020-02327-7.
11. Khanneh, Hala, et al. Personality traits & their relation to academic burnout and satisfaction with medicine as a career in Jordanian medical students. Discover Psychology. 2024. 4.1, 161, doi:10.1007/s44202-024-00263-x.
12. Galarneau D, Seoane L, Eley DS. Personality, Resilience, and Calling in Students Undertaking a Medical Degree Across Two Continents: Disparate Pathways to the Healing Profession. Ochsner J. 2021. 21(2), 143-151, doi:10.31486/toj.20.0029.
13. Shin SJ, Kim KS, Lee DS. The effect of personal character on the results of clinical performance skill tests. Korean J Med Educ. 2011. 23(2), 111-117, doi:10.3946/kjme.2011.23.2.111.