Relationships between Professional Commitment and Personality Traits in Pharmacy Profession
Date Issued
2004
Date
2004
Author(s)
Tsai, I-Chieh
DOI
zh-TW
Abstract
This study was designed to understand the professional commitment of pharmacist in Taiwan, and to explore whether there is a relationship between personality traits (as measured by the Five-factor model) and professional commitment. Furthermore, this study examined whether professional commitment is correlated with a pharmacist’s background and participation in professional activities such as “Community Education Program on Pharmacy and Medication (CEPPM).”
The study was a cross-sectional self-answered survey where the main variables were measured with rating scales. Nationwide, pharmacists participated in the CEPPM and its associated symposiums were invited to take the survey. Among the 961 pharmacists contacted, 742 agreed to participate in the survey, and 507 eventually completed the survey.
The study results showed a mean professional commitment of 28.39 (SD 4.18). About 12.6% pharmacists said, if given a choice, they would not choose pharmacy again as their profession. Pharmacists participated in the CEPPM had higher professional commitment than the non-participants. Pharmacists practiced in community pharmacy had higher professional commitment than those working in hospitals and clinics. Especially, a significant difference was noted between pharmacists in chain pharmacy and those in medical center. Pharmacists worked in southern part of Taiwan had a lower commitment score than those in the northern part. Longer years in active practice, frequent contact with patients, and older age also positively correlated with professional commitment. Gender, marriage status, types of license, graduated college and types of degree did not show a significant correlation with professional commitment.
Multiple variable analyses showed that personality traits of Extraversion (β=0.247, p<0.001) and Agreeableness (β=0.161, p<0.001) were positively correlated professional commitment, after controlling for the experience of CEPPM, age and gender etc. In addition, continuing education had a positive relationship with professional commitment (β=0.133, p<0.01), and pharmacists working in chain pharmacy had the highest professional commitment than those working in other settings (β=0.145, p<0.01).
Although pharmacists participated in the Community Education Program on Pharmacy and Medication”appeared to have higher professional commitment, the direction of causal relationship cannot be ascertained with this cross-sectional study. Longitudinal studies are required in the future to understand whether the experience of participating in the program does increase the professional commitment of pharmacist.
In order to develop professional commitment, when making recruitment decisions on pharmacists and pharmacist students, it might be worthwhile to consider latent variables such as personality traits, in addition to other more objective factors such as degree, work experiences and performance on school work.
Subjects
專業承諾
藥師
藥事人員
「社區教育推展藥學知識」計畫
人格特質
pharmacist
career commitment
professional commitment
five-factor model
CEPPM
personality traits
“Community Education Program on Pharmacy and Medication ”
big five
Type
text
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