Personality Traits And Academic Performance of Medical Students in Al- Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Students differ in their learning styles and generally do well in the environment that fit their personality types. Considerable research is being done to ascertain the personality types of students to create a rewarding environment that enhances their learning ability. Correlating personality with academic performance has come a long way since one of the earliest review articles in the field. The present study was conducted to determine various personality traits and its correlation with their academic performance so that the teaching and learning methods can be modified to produce excellent academic achievements by the students after awareness of their pattern of personality. Material andMethods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted among 416 medical students of College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire was distributed and responses were collected. Results: In the present study, 155 (37.1%) participants were Traditional Curriculum students while 263 (62.9%) were PBL curriculum students. The ‘Conscientious Personality’ trait showed highly significant (p=0.0001) association with high GPA (4.5-5). However, no significant association was observed between other personality types (Openness, Extraversion, Agreeable, and Neuroticism) and GPA.Statistically no significant association was observed between personality traits and other characteristics of participants i.e. Gender, Marital status and teaching methods. Conclusions: Present study showed mixed pattern of personality traits of medical students. Few personality traits like Conscientiousness’ has significant influence with academic performance of students. They showed favorable attitude towards ‘Problem Based Learning’ curriculum as compared to ‘Traditional Curriculum’.