Correlation between Personality Traits and Socioeconomic Stressors: An Analytical Perspective

Stresses related to socioeconomic conditions have become more significant in today's complex and rapidly evolving world, and they have an effect on individuals from all walks of life. The lack of stability in one's financial condition, job security, educational possibilities, housing, and access to healthcare are all examples of common pressures that have the potential to have a disastrous impact on one's mental and physical health. In spite of the fact that these pressures are rather frequent, not everyone experiences them in the same manner. The characteristics of an individual's personality have a significant impact on the choices they make and the ways in which they react to the demands of society and the economy. The Five-Factor Model describes the characteristics of our personalities that have an impact on how we respond emotionally, how resilient we are, and how we deal with stress. These characteristics are all influenced by our personality.

Adaptive techniques of mental health management

Neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion are some of the characteristics that fall under this category. When it comes to dealing with stress, some individuals have an inherent advantage because they are emotionally stable, optimistic, or socially flexible. On the other hand, some individuals may be more prone to stress because they are worried, pessimistic, or socially isolated. Through an examination of the connection between personality traits and the degree to which one is exposed to socioeconomic difficulties, it is possible to get a greater understanding of the myriad of ways in which people respond to challenging circumstances. We may seek for patterns in the association between socioeconomic stress and certain personality traits if we take an analytical approach to the situation. The ways in which personality variables influence how stress is perceived, how adaptive responses are generated, and the start of symptoms linked with stress are the focus of our attention at this point. In addition, the study investigates gender disparities, the length of time that stressors are present, and the possible influence that personality traits have on levels of stress. It is possible that the findings of this research will be of assistance in directing the development of social policies, support networks, and mental health therapies that are tailored to meet the specific psychological needs of individuals who originate from low-income homes. A greater understanding of this connection may help advance two major goals: improving the well-being of individuals and establishing communities and cultures that are resilient to adversity. By studying these relationships, it may be possible to reduce the impact of socioeconomic stress and to inspire the development of better, more adaptive techniques of mental health management.

To assess the stress levels that psychiatric nurses encounter and identify the main causes of stress in their workplace.

To examine the relationship between the degree of stress symptoms experienced by psychiatric nurses and personality qualities such empathy, independence, social presence, and psychological intuition.

Through the examination of a sample of people exposed to different socioeconomic pressures, the current research sought to analyze the association between personality characteristics and these stressors. Over the course of three months, researchers performed an analytical, cross-sectional investigation. The study comprised 34 participants, all of them were trained professionals with a minimum of 1 year of experience in their professions and a minimum of 3 years of specialized education. A balanced work-life balance was reflected in the participants' standardized schedules, and the sample was meticulously chosen to provide a wide representation of socioeconomic backgrounds. This research was able to track participants' stress levels both during and after work hours since they worked three 8-hour shifts during the week and two 12-hour stints on weekends. The three questionnaires used in this study were the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the "How stressed are you?" scale, and the "Psychological Symptoms Scale." The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the relationship between socioeconomic pressures and personality characteristics as well as stress levels. We chose these instruments because of the information they may give about people's personalities, their stress levels, and any mental health issues that can develop as a consequence of living under constant social and economic pressure. "

A 4-62 item questionnaire known as the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) was a key instrument that was used to evaluate the characteristics of a person's personality. Intellectual approaches that determine personal style, motivational level, self-actualization, and value alternatives and inter-relational maturity are the four areas of psychological relevance that make up the CPI. The CPI is comprised of these four components. Additionally, in order to support the analysis of personality characteristics that were relevant to the research, three additional measures were incorporated. Furthermore, the mean and median coefficients for the Romanian version of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) were both 0.69, which indicates that it was trustworthy for the sample. "How stressed are you?" : In the year 2001, T. Hindle developed this stress perception test that consists of 32 items and offers a response choice ranging from 1 to 4. The individual's degree of stress may be determined by adding together all of their scores:

•                    23–46: best practices for managing stress and striking a balance between positive and negative stress;

•                    47–67: acceptable stress levels but in need of improvement;

•                    68–92: severe stress, necessitating stress-reduction measures

Birkenbihl developed the "Psychological Symptoms Scale" in 2000. It is a 29-item measure of stress-related symptoms. Findings are interpreted according to the quantity of symptoms:

•                    Stress has no effect on those with less than three symptoms.

•                    3-6 signs: little stress

•                    Excessive stress: more than six symptoms

Statistical analysis was performed on the data using SPSS v. 15.0. To determine whether the data followed a normal distribution, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. When comparing the sexes, we used the Student t-test for data that followed a normal distribution and the Mann-Whitney test for data that did not. Using the Spearman correlation coefficient for non-normal data and the Pearson correlation coefficient for normal data, we analyzed the correlations between personality characteristics and socioeconomic stresses. A significance threshold of 5% was used for all statistical analyses. This approach for an exhaustive investigation of the correlations between socioeconomic stresses and personality qualities including empathy, social presence, independence, and intellectual efficiency. Additionally, it sheds light on the ways in which people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds interpret stress and react psychologically when exposed to it for an extended period of time.

While the average age of the male patients was 32.25 years old, the standard deviation was 6.210 years old. On the other hand, the average age of the female subjects was 35.18 years old, and the standard deviation was 8.028 years. There are a number of characteristics that are associated to the descriptive data that is shown in Table 1. These factors include years of experience in the profession, degrees of perceived stress, and mental problems.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of investigated variables

The degree of stress experienced by female workers was higher than that experienced by their male colleagues, as measured by the symptoms that stress causes. The results of the average scores of male and female workers are shown in Table 3.

Table 2. Differences according with gender (22 female vs. 12 male)

Within the female population, it has been shown that there exists a link between age and mental symptoms that is both relatively favorable and statistically significant (ρ=0.440; p=0.041). In addition, the female group demonstrated a significant link (ρ=0.664, p=0.001) between the sense of stress and the presence of mental problems. A statistical analysis revealed that the male employee had psychological issues when they first began their employment (ρ = -0.635, p = 0.027). Table 4 displays the results of the t-test that was conducted to compare the sexes with regard to the psychological qualities.

"Table 3. Differences of psychological factors according with gender

The association between stress and personality characteristics is shown in Table 4, along with the significance levels and correlation coefficients that correlate to this relationship."

There is a strong correlation between the characteristics of an individual's personality and the manner in which they respond to socioeconomic pressures. While some individuals are able to remain resilient in the face of prolonged stress, others may become completely overwhelmed by the same circumstances. It has been shown that the Big Five personality traits have the potential to provide light on how individuals respond to stress, how they perceive their work environment, and how they feel about their job satisfaction and burnout situations. This is particularly true in situations where there is a lot of pressure, such as medicine. According to studies that were done on physicians around the age of 30, personality and learning styles have a significant influence on how they approach their profession, how they perceive the environment in which they operate, and how they deal with stress. Personality traits that are maintained over time have a considerable influence on how individuals cope with the pressures and challenges they face in their professional lives. There are a number of personality traits that have a significant impact on how an individual experiences and manages stress. These traits include neuroticism, openness, self-esteem, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Further evidence that personality traits have a long-lasting influence on stress management comes from the research conducted by McManus et al. (2004). They discovered that the levels of stress, burnout, and job satisfaction experienced by medical professionals correlate with characteristics that were assessed many years previously. Within the context of socioeconomic situations, it has been shown that conscientiousness is a powerful predictor of success, particularly in high-pressure contexts. Personality qualities such as openness, emotional stability (low neuroticism), and sociability have a crucial effect in how people react to the strains that are brought on by socioeconomic conditions, particularly in highly responsible professions such as medicine. Individual psychological profiles have a high correlation with their stress resistance. This is due to the fact that these personality variables have a direct influence on how socioeconomic stresses are perceived, how they are managed, and how they are eased.

Table 4. Results of relationship analysis between perceived stress and psychological factors, and between psychological symptoms and personality factors

Numerous studies conducted on healthcare workers have shown, time and time again, that certain personality traits have a significant influence on their capacity to deal with stress. According to Hodgson et al. (2007), medical practitioners and other healthcare professionals who behave in an unprofessional way, such as being careless or not making an effort to improve themselves, often have worse scores on a range of psychological measures. The purpose of our study is to provide light on the relationship between stress and personality characteristics among Romanian healthcare professionals, with a particular focus on nurses.

By investigating the ways in which various personality qualities influence levels of stress, the purpose of this research is to contribute to our understanding of stress that is associated with healthcare. Our study is the first documented investigation into the relationship between personality characteristics and stress levels among Romanian healthcare professionals, namely nurses. The research was conducted using the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), which was used to conduct the investigation. In the context of the healthcare business, this is a subgroup of a wider research that is investigating the association between stress and various personality traits. The demographics of the individuals were analysed, and the results showed some fascinating trends:

There was a little increase in the maximum age for female nurses, but other than that, the ages of both sexes were comparable. This may be due to the employment regulations that were in place in Romania before to 1989. In the field of nursing, the longest term of employment for female nurses was 35 years, while the smallest tenure for male nurses was 19 years. It would seem from this that females, on average, were more likely to seek medical attention. Both male and female nurses reported significantly higher levels of stress, with the former reporting much higher levels of stress than the latter. The difference in stress perception ratings was almost ten points. To add insult to injury, the prevalence of psychological issues that are associated with stress was almost three times higher among female nurses than among male nurses. The findings demonstrated that there were considerable differences between men and women in terms of the mental health problems that they experienced. As people became older, it became increasingly obvious that women dealt with a greater number of psychological issues.

A minor but statistically significant link was also found between the amount of stress that was reported and the psychological symptoms that were experienced. With regard to personality characteristics and social presence, female nurses exhibited a lower level of performance compared to male nurses (p < 0.05). The levels of stress were also shown to have a strong association with personality traits such as a lack of self-assurance, a lack of independence, and an easy temper. It is common knowledge that these qualities contribute to an increase in stress levels in the healthcare context. In addition, these characteristics have been linked to a lack of empathy, a decrease in intellectual efficiency, and an impairment in work orientation. Because women score lower on measures of social presence, empathy, and general well-being, the findings indicate that stress has a bigger effect on women than it does on men. This finding is consistent with the fact that women score lower on these measures. Despite the fact that female nurses reported an increase in stress symptoms with the length of their employment, male nurses displayed the opposite tendency throughout their careers.

According to the findings, there was a significant connection formed between mental symptoms and stress perception for females, but men demonstrated an inverse correlation with the length of their work environment. It was found that female nurses were much less socially engaged than their male counterparts. This characteristic is associated with high levels of stress, as well as poor levels of empathy and intellectual efficiency. There is a link between these three factors. Stress was linked to a number of factors, including an unhealthy work orientation, an inability to deal with difficult concepts, and a lack of tolerance.

Because of the small number of participants in the research, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Because of this, it is not possible to make broad inferences about the population of healthcare workers as a whole based on the data. In spite of this, it is possible that further research may build upon these findings in order to study the relationships between the perception of stress, mental symptoms, and personality traits. Furthermore, in order to validate these results and get a better knowledge of the impact that socioeconomic constraints have on the mental health of healthcare professionals, further research with larger populations and several centres is required.

This study shows that personality variables influence stress reactivity and coping techniques, notably in healthcare workers. Sociality, empathy, autonomy, self-confidence, intellect, intuition, work ethic, and femininity are key personality attributes connected to stress vulnerability. The findings suggest that those with lower scores on these qualities are more likely to experience excessive stress, which may affect their health and performance in demanding sectors like healthcare. Women had more stress and psychological problems than males. Sociological, psychological, and environmental factors may affect how male and female healthcare workers handle stress. Female nurses had more psychological symptoms than male nurses, and stress perception was more strongly correlated with empathy and social presence. These findings emphasize the need for gender- and personality-specific stress management training for healthcare personnel. Improving stress resilience should be gender-sensitive and consider personality-related weaknesses. Thus, both male and female workers' needs may be met .In light of these findings, future research should increase the sample size and examine similar personality-stress relationships in additional healthcare contexts. If pursued, learning ways to help healthcare personnel handle stress may improve mental health outcomes and treatment quality.