The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of military nurses in the face of the Covid-19 crisis

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1959121/v1

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The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of military nurses in the face of the Covid-19 crisis

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1959121/v1

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Background: Since December 2019, the prevalence of Covid-19-induced pneumonia has spread rapidly, placing nurses in heavy working conditions and affecting nurses' job satisfaction depends on many factors, one of which is the compatibility between personality and job

methods: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the face of Covid-19 crisis.

Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 131 nurses working in Covid_19 involved wards in selected AJA hospitals were randomly selected.

Results: A total of 131 nurses who met the inclusion criteria were randomly selected. Job satisfaction is associated with personality traits of neuroticism, pleasantness and conscientiousness with P <0.005 and the level of job satisfaction with the average is 67.9% and the average job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the corona crisis is 47.35. . Also, nurses in all personality traits with 90.1% in neurotic personality traits, with 91.6% in extroverted personality traits, with 96.2% in flexible personality traits, with 96.2% in pleasant personality traits and with 94.7% The percentages in the conscientious personality trait are at level 2.

Conclusion: This study showed that there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and personality traits of neuroticism, pleasantness and conscientiousness in Covid_19 crisis and personality traits can predict nurses' job satisfaction. Also, nurses' job satisfaction in the Corona crisis is at a moderate level, and most nurses are in the 5-factor personality traits at level 2 of these personality traits.

Covid-19

personality traits

job satisfaction

nurses

According to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, viral diseases are an important public health issue. The last twenty years have seen an epidemic of various viral diseases of the coronavirus family, such as SARS from 2002 to 2003 and Mers in 2012. In the last one year, an epidemic of Covid-19 virus which is accompanied by acute respiratory syndrome, was first seen on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China and was reported by the World Health Organization (1). The virus is more prevalent than other coronaviruses, and the incidence and mortality rate of this virus is a vital issue for the World Health Organization. So that everyone in the medical staff around the world are working to prevent Its prevalence, reduce the disease and treat patients with the virus and reduce the number of deaths caused by the virus (2). Also, the widespread prevalence of Covid-19 disease in affected countries has put nurses in a difficult situation, which has led to burnout and job dissatisfaction (3). Nurses are one of the largest groups of health care providers in a hospital that are influenced by the Covid-19 crisis and have the most contact with these patients than other care providers. Hence, due to the high workload, in case, the failure of this group in the Covid-19 crisis will have irreparable consequences. As a result, the effectiveness of health centers is directly related to the performance of nurses. And the nursing workforce has an important place in this system (4). Given that human resources (nurses) are the main axis of development of any organization, especially in times of crisis, mental health and high job satisfaction can help nurses to move the organization forward with thinking and creativity. Job satisfaction is also one of the most challenging organizational concepts and forms the basis of many policies and procedures to increase organizational productivity and efficiency. Totally, it means a degree of positive feelings and attitudes that people have towards their job, and it's an emotional attitude that depends on employees' interaction, personality traits, values, and expectations with the work environment and the organization. Dynamic organizations, including hospitals, need to pay attention to the needs of their employees in addition to developing the organization and increasing changes. And also in the face of a wave of change (Covid-19 crisis), maintain their satisfaction and prevent stress and dissatisfaction resulting from these changes (4). Job satisfaction depends on many factors, one of which is the fit between personality and job. The higher this compatibility, in addition to providing job satisfaction, it provides optimal performance for the organization (5). Having a fit between personality and job is very important in job satisfaction. Personality is an abstract concept that includes a set of behaviors, thoughts, motivations, morals, and emotions of people that consists of five main dimensions, which are neuroticism, extraversion, flexibility, pleasantness, and conscientiousness (6, 7). Therefore, examining the personality of individuals when hiring is very significant (12). Hereupon, the more critical and sensitive an organization is, the more accurate the selection of individuals should be. However, it is clear that not all people are the same in terms of characteristics, abilities and personality (8). Thus, according to the above, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in this crisis.

This research is descriptive-analytical and in terms of cross-sectional time and in terms of research approach, it is a quantitative research that was conducted in 2021-2022 on 131 nurses working in military hospitals. Data were collected using standard Neo personality traits and Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaires. Each questionnaire consisted of three parts, the first part related to demographic information such as age, marital status, number of children, religion, economic status, residence status and type of employment and the second parts was obtained included Neo standard test, that its initial form of the test was performed in 1985 by McCurry and Costa on 208 American students over a three-month period, with scores ranging from 0.83 to 0.75. The long-term validity of the Neo test also showed a validity coefficient of 0.68 to 0.83 in personal reports as well as in couples' reports during a long 6-year study on psychoanalytic scales, extraversion, and flexibility. The validity coefficient of the two factors of pleasantness and conscientiousness two years apart were 0.79 and 0.63, respectively. In the third part, the standard job satisfaction test of Minnesota was used. The job satisfaction questionnaire of employees by Minnesota (2009), designed to measure the job satisfaction components of employees. This questionnaire is designed in 6 dimensions and 19 items that use the Likert five value range and includes the values of “strongly agree”, “agree”, “have no opinion”, “disagree”, and "strongly disagree”. This questionnaire contains 6 components of payment system, type of job, opportunities for development, organizational climate, leadership style and physical condition. In Mohammadi's research (2011), the reliability of the questionnaire has been obtained as 0.86 (9, 10). In this study, simple random sampling was performed. First, after obtaining the necessary permits and observing the Helsinki ethical considerations, all selected military hospitals in Tehran were selected and statistics of their nurses were prepared and then, according to similar studies, and using the Cochran's formula, the sample size of 131 people was determined and according to the number of nurses, a quota was allocated to that hospital. Finally, the desired number was selected by multi-stage stratified sampling method from different work shifts and after entering the 14spss software with appropriate statistical methods, the results were interpreted and published in the article.

One hundred thirty-one nurses participated in this study, of which 59.5% were men and 40.5% were women, of which 41.2% in the morning shift, 3.8% in the evening shift, 6.9% in the night shift, 32.1% in the rotating shift, and 12.2% were in the morning and evening shifts, 3.8% were in the evening and night shifts, and 65.6% of them were married and 34.4% of them were single. Also, 3% of people with 3 children, 29.8% of people with 2 children, 20.6% of people with one child and 46.6% of people without children. In terms of religion, all people were Muslims and 97.7% of them were Shiites and 2.3% of them were Sunnis. In terms of economic status, 15.2% of people with good economic status, 50.4% of people with moderate economic status and 34.4% of people with poor economic status. Also, in terms of residence status, 31.3% had organizational residence status, 29% had rented residence status and 39.7% had personal residence status. In terms of type of employment, 64.1% were formal, 19.1% were contracted, 8% were covenanted and 16% were conscripts (Table 1). Job satisfaction was also examined at three levels, of which 13% had good job satisfaction, 67.9% had moderate job satisfaction and 19.1% had poor job satisfaction. Most people had moderate job satisfaction (Table 2). Personality traits were also examined in 5 dimensions: neuroticism with 90.1%, extroverted personality traits with 91.6%, flexible personality traits with 96.2%, pleasant personality traits with 96.2% and personality traits conscientious people were at level 2 with 94.7%. Also, individuals were in level 1 in terms of neurotic personality traits with 7.6%, extrovert personality traits with 1.5%, flexible personality traits with 0.8%, pleasant personality traits with zero percent and conscientious personality traits with zero percent. In terms of neurotic personality trait with 2.3%, extrovert personality trait with 6.9%, flexible personality trait with 3%, pleasant personality trait with 3.8% and conscientious personality trait with 5.3%, they were in level 3. Most people are at level 2 personality traits (Tables 3). Also, there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and neurotic personality traits with the value of p = -0.02, pleasant with the value of p = 0.009 and conscientious with the value of p = 0.005 and the highest correlation between job satisfaction and personality trait is related to the conscientious personality trait with a correlation level of -0.24 and pleasant with a correlation level of -0.23 (Table 4).

Table 1

Frequency distribution of demographic information

Frequency	Abundance	Gender
59/5	78	Male
40/5	53	Female
Frequency	Abundance	Shift
41/2	54	Morning
3/8	5	Evening
6/9	9	Night
32/1	42	in Circulation
12/2	16	Long
3/8	5	Evening and Night
Frequency	Abundance	Marital Status
65/6	86	Married
34/4	45	Single
Frequency	Abundance	Number of Children
46/6	61	0
20/6	27	1
29/8	39	2
3	4	3
Frequency	Abundance	Religion
97/7	128	Shia
2/3	3	Sunni
Frequency	Abundance	the Economic Situation
15/2	20	Good
50/4	66	Medium
34/4	45	Weak
Frequency	Abundance	Type of Employment
64/1	84	Official
19/1	25	Contractual
8	1	covenanted
16	21	Conscript
Frequency	Abundance	Residence Status
31/3	41	Organizational
29	38	Rent
39/7	52	Personal

Table 2

Frequency distribution of job satisfaction levels

Frequency	Abundance	Job Satisfaction level
13	17	Good
67/9	89	Medium
19/1	25	Weak
100	131	Total

Table 3

Frequency distribution of personality trait levels

Frequency	Abundance	Neuroticism
7/6	10	1
90/1	118	2
2/3	3	3
Frequency	Abundance	Extroverted
1/5	2	1
91/6	120	2
6/9	9	3
Frequency	Abundance	Flexible
0/8	1	1
96/2	126	2
3	4	3
Frequency	Abundance	Pleasant
96/2	126	2
3/8	5	3
Frequency	Abundance	Conscientious
94/7	124	2
5/3	7	3
100	131	Total

Table 4

Job satisfaction in different personality models

Conscientious		Pleasant		Flexible		Extroverted		Neuroticism		Variables
r	P	r	P	r	P	r	P	r	P	Variables
-0/24	0/05	-0/23	0/009	-0/11	0/18	-0/15	0/07	-0/2	- 0/02	Job Satisfaction
0/15	0/80	0/41	0	0/41	0	0/28	0/100	Neuroticism
0/55	0	0/44	0	0/56	0	Extroverted
0/35	0	0/46	0	Flexible
0/53	0	Pleasant

Manpower and its importance in the organization is a fact that is not hidden from anyone today. In fact, an organization's most valuable asset is its human resources. The flourishing of manpower in organizations requires various measures, one of which is to provide job satisfaction to employees. Research has shown that job satisfaction plays a crucial role in many aspects of organizational productivity. Improving performance in organizational civic behavior, organizational commitment, job attachment and mental health of employees and reducing behaviors such as absenteeism, leaving the service and many other behaviors are among the consequences of creating job satisfaction in employees of organizations, when employees are sufficiently motivated and satisfied, the performance and service of the organization will improve (11). Researchers in the humanities and social sciences have always studied the factors affecting job satisfaction and its effects on people's personality and performance. Since job satisfaction is a complex and multidimensional concept and is related to various psychological, social and physical factors, a combination of various factors causes a person to feel satisfied with their job. Diverse studies on job satisfaction show that many variables are related to job satisfaction. Some attributes job satisfaction to inner and outer satisfaction (12). Job satisfaction is influenced by many factors, one of which is the compatibility between job and personality traits (13). Due to the prevalence of Covid-19 virus worldwide and the increase in nurses' work pressure in relation to the prevalence of this virus, job satisfaction during the outbreak of this virus has also been impacted by this workload (14). By examining the personality traits of nurses and its relationship with job satisfaction in this crisis, it is possible to make predictions that reduce the work pressure in this crisis and future crises and increase the job satisfaction of nurses according to these predictions. The results of the main purpose of this study, namely determining the relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the face of COVID-19 crisis, showed a significant relationship between job satisfaction and neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality traits. This means that neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality traits can predict job satisfaction. The results of the main purpose of this study are similar to the results of the research of Mirza Hosseini et al. in pleasant and conscientious personality traits and differ in other personality traits (15). Manpower and its importance in the organization is a fact that is not hidden from anyone today. In fact, an organization's most valuable asset is its human resources. The flourishing of manpower in organizations requires various measures, one of which is to provide job satisfaction to employees. Research has shown that job satisfaction plays a crucial role in many aspects of organizational productivity. Improving performance in organizational civic behavior, organizational commitment, job attachment and mental health of employees and reducing behaviors such as absenteeism, leaving the service and many other behaviors are among the consequences of creating job satisfaction in employees of organizations, when employees are sufficiently motivated and satisfied, the performance and service of the organization will improve (11). Researchers in the humanities and social sciences have always studied the factors affecting job satisfaction and its effects on people's personality and performance. Since job satisfaction is a complex and multidimensional concept and is related to various psychological, social and physical factors, a combination of various factors causes a person to feel satisfied with their job. Diverse studies on job satisfaction show that many variables are related to job satisfaction. Some attributes job satisfaction to inner and outer satisfaction (12). Job satisfaction is affected by many factors, one of which is the compatibility between job and personality traits (13). Due to the prevalence of Covid-19 virus worldwide and the increase in nurses' work pressure in relation to the prevalence of this virus, job satisfaction during the outbreak of this virus has also been modified by this workload (14). By examining the personality traits of nurses and its relationship with job satisfaction in this crisis, it is possible to make predictions that reduce the work pressure in this crisis and future crises and increase the job satisfaction of nurses according to these predictions. The results of the main purpose of this study, namely determining the relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the face of COVID-19 crisis, showed a significant relationship between job satisfaction and neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality traits. This means that neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality traits can predict job satisfaction. The results of the main purpose of this study are similar to the results of the research of Mirza Hosseini et al. in pleasant and conscientious personality traits and differ in other personality traits (15). Also, the results are similar to the results of the research of Hatamian et al. in the personality traits of conscientiousness and pleasantness and are different in the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, and flexibility (16). The results of the research of Mirza Hosseini et al. Conducted in 2014 showed that except for neurotic personality traits, other personality traits have a significant relationship with job satisfaction. Thus, extraversion, flexibility, pleasantness, and conscientiousness showed a direct relationship with job satisfaction. In general, the results of this study showed that in considering the personality of the employees of the organization in terms of performance and job satisfaction, two characteristics of conscientiousness and flexibility more than other characteristics should be considered. This means that service in the organization brings more satisfaction to people who have more flexibility. Also, people with high levels of willpower and conscience have reported more satisfaction (15). The results of Hatamian et al.'s research conducted in 2016 showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between extraversion personality traits, pleasantness, and conscientiousness. While, there was a negative and significant correlation between neurotic and flexible personality traits with job satisfaction (16). The results of examining the purpose of determining the average job satisfaction of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the COVID-19 crisis showed that the average job satisfaction of nurses in the COVID-19 crisis was 47.35, which indicates that a high percentage of nurses have moderate job satisfaction. The results of the research are similar to the research of Pak Cheshm et al. (17) and are different from the research of Gholamnejad (18) and also with the results of the research of Naziri et al. (33). Pak Cheshm et al. In 2017 concluded that the average job satisfaction of nurses was 61.23 ± 10.05 and indicates moderate job satisfaction (17). Furthermore, the results of Gholamnejad's research in 2010 showed that most nurses were 79.6% dissatisfied with their jobs (18). Also, the results of Naziri et al.'s research showed that the average score of job satisfaction of nurses was 61.89, which had a high level of job satisfaction (19). The results of the study aimed at determining the personality traits of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the COVID-19 crisis showed that a high percentage of nurses are at the level of the two personality traits of extraversion, pleasantness, flexibility and conscientiousness, and a small percentage of nurses are at the level of There are one and three personality traits. A high percentage of nurses sometimes have lasting emotions and sometimes do not. Probably not very happy people. But they are not upset; they are neither completely introverted nor completely extroverted. Sometimes they prefer to be together and sometimes alone, they are not completely conservative and do not mind experiencing new things, in some cases they prefer to consider others and in some cases they do not. It perhaps depends on the situation; they are not very conscientious and not very unscrupulous. The results are different from the results of the study of Khanjani et al. (20) in terms of neurotic personality traits and are similar in other personality traits. It is also similar to the results of the research of Hejazi et al. (35) in extroverted personality traits and flexibility, and differs in other personality traits. The results of Khanjani et al.'s research in 1396 showed that the average score of neuroticism was 20.85, extraversion was 25.96, flexibility was 24.58, pleasantness was 24.99, and conscientiousness was 24.67 (34). Moreover, the results of Hejazi et al.'s research in 2002, which used a Neo-questionnaire to study students' personality traits, showed traits such as neurosis 15.41%, extraversion 0.15%, conscientiousness 0.15% and flexibility. 0.60% of the studied sample is at a low level. About 6.71% of the sample in terms of neuroticism, 42.12% in terms of extraversion, 20.91% in terms of flexibility, 62.13% in terms of pleasantness and finally 53.93% in terms of conscientiousness to a large extent are (21).

According to the results of the study, it can be seen that there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and the characteristics of neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality, and the characteristics of neurotic, pleasant and conscientious personality can predict job satisfaction. Considering the personality of the employees of the organization and its relationship with job satisfaction, the three characteristics of neuroticism, pleasantness, and conscientiousness should be considered more than other characteristics. This means that service in the organization brings more satisfaction to people who have these personality traits. Also, the average job satisfaction score of nurses working in selected AJA hospitals in the Covid-19 crisis is moderate, and individuals were in level 2 of the five Neo-factor personality traits in terms of personality traits.

Applied clinical tips for military communities

One of the most important issues in military hospitals is the presence of psychiatry in the nursing staff, which is very closely related to the personality traits of individuals. Therefore, according to the results of this study, we can be careful in selecting and hiring people with special personality traits so that in the future, nurses' work efficiency will be higher due to job satisfaction.

Acknowledgment

This study is taken from a research project with code
IR.AJAUMS.REC.1399.151 is approved by the university on 15 November 2020.
We would like to thank all the nurses and officials of Golestan, Family, Imam Reza and Besat hospitals who helped us in this project during the difficult conditions of the Corona crisis.

Competing interest:

Authors of this study declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to the publication of this research.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors' contributions

MSH and YA designed the study and the data analysis, MSH and EA conducted the interviews and performed the data analysis. SAP
interpreted the data .MA drafted the manuscript. The authors read and approved the final manuscript prior to submission

Funding

This work was supported by Aja University of Medical Sciences. Our funders had no role in the design or execution of the study, data analysis or interpretation, or writing of this manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved with code IR.AJAUMS.REC.1399.151 by the Ethics Committee of Aja University of Medical Sciences. All subjects voluntarily participated in the study. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects. During the study, no financial costs were incurred by the participants. The purpose and process of the study was explained to potential participants and hospital managers. Questionnaires were completed confidentially, without the name and ID of participants. The principles of the Helsinki Declaration related to medical research on human beings were respected in this study.

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No competing interests reported.

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The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction of military nurses in the face of the Covid-19 crisis

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