Replication Studies on Significant Differences in Personality Profiles of Securely and Insecurely Attached Psychotherapists and Dentists

"How obsessive are dentists?"--A personality styles & disorder inventory based prospective, controlled study

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to examine the typical personality traits of dentists and to discuss critically their influence on the necessary characteristics for a good dentist-patient relationship.

METHODS

Two groups were invited via e-mail to participate the study in 2015-2020. One group consisted of German dentists (DENT N = 580). The other group was formed by German speaking psychotherapists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH N =  1.027). The Personality Styles and Disorder Inventory was used in its short form (PSDI-S) via online survey. The normalization sample (NORM N = 3.392) of the PSDI-S was used to compare the results with a normative sample.

RESULTS

Dentists differed in 10 out of 14 personality styles from the normalization sample (NORM), and in 13 out of 14 personality styles compared with the psychotherapists (DACH). Female dentists differed in 7 out of 14 personality styles to their male colleagues.

CONCLUSIONS

The most significant differences in personality styles were willful (PN), spontaneous (BL), reserved (SZ), ambitious (NA), optimistic (RH) and conscientious (ZW), which seem to be necessary for a good dentist-patient relationship and dental procedures. The expression of personality styles is most likely to influence the choice, delivery and cost as well as patient perception of treatment.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Dentist's personality has an important impact on the interpersonal, which influences the dentist-patient relationship and its therapeutic outcome.

Personality Styles of Dentists Practicing Hypnosis Confirm the Existence of the Homo Hypnoticus

Several publications with healthcare professionals, such as psychotherapists, have shown a significant difference in personality styles in practitioners using hypnosis compared to those not using hypnosis. To investigate differences in personality styles, dentists were contacted to participate in a personality-inventory [Personality Style and Disorder Inventory (PSDI)] online survey. Dentists using hypnosis (HYP DGZH) (n = 418) were compared to dentists not using hypnosis (NONHYP DENT) (n = 162). Results show that hypnosis-practicing dentists score significantly higher in the intuitive/schizotypal ST personality style (p < 0.001) compared to non-hypnosis-practicing dentists. Female dentists scored significantly higher in intuitive/schizotypal ST and unselfish/self-sacrificing SL in the HYP DGZH sample but only in unselfish/self-sacrificing SL in the NONHYP DENT sample. The percentage of women was similar in both samples (68.2%; 67.3%). Intuitive/schizotypal ST was found to be the predominant personality style of men who are interested in or use hypnosis, metaphorically so-called "homo hypnoticus." Within the limitations of this cross-sectional non-interventional observational online-questionnaire study, results expand this notion to the so-called "homo hypnoticus dentalis." However, further research on the subject is needed to investigate and confirm this personality type in other than the German-speaking DACH countries.

Psychotherapist Trainees' Quality of Life: Patterns and Correlates

While psychotherapists are trained to improve their clients' quality of life, little work has examined the quality of life experienced by psychotherapist trainees themselves. Yet their life satisfactions and stresses would plausibly affect both their ability to learn new skills and conduct psychotherapy. Therefore, in the Society for Psychotherapy Research Interest Section on Psychotherapist Development and Training study, we investigated the patterns of self-reported life quality and their correlates in a multinational sample of 1,214 psychotherapist trainees. A comprehensive questionnaire was used at the outset of trainings to assess trainees' professional background, current life situation, personal characteristics, family background, and social and national origin. The findings indicated 54.3% of trainees' lives could be characterized as fortunate or happy (i.e., experiencing great life satisfaction and not much stress), whereas 14.3% could be characterized as clearly distressed or troubled (i.e., experiencing great life stress and not much satisfaction). The strongest correlates of high life stress, a contributor to poor life quality, were economic insecurity, self-protectiveness, and attachment-related anxiety in relationships, and economic or psychological hardship in childhood. In turn, greater wellbeing was most strongly associated with a warm and open interpersonal style, being married, having sufficient economic means, and material and emotional security in childhood. While the results indicate the majority of therapists experience a relatively good quality of life, the findings also suggest potential targets for increasing trainees' life quality when it may be deficient, such as those on a societal level (e.g., availability of low-cost student loans), training program level (e.g., promoting supportive supervision, positive between-trainee relationships and group collaboration), and individual level (e.g., personal therapy and learning self-care), in order to promote effective learning and therapy practice.