Relationship between personality traits of Temperament and Character with professional ethics of hospital staff: The mediating role of defense mechanisms

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits Temperament and Character with the professional ethics of hospital staff with the mediating role of defense mechanisms. The method of research was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of all 214 employees of Al-Jalil Hospital in Aq Qala in 2022. According to the target population, 214 people were selected by the whole number method. In this study, the Professional Ethics Questionnaire (PEQ) of Armito (2012), the Defense Mechanisms Questionnaire (DSQ) of Anders  (1993), and the personality traits of Temperament and Character Questionnaire (TCI) of Cloninger (1994) were used. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation method and path analysis with SPSS 18 and Amos 23 software. There is a significant negative correlation between underdeveloped mechanisms and psychosocial mechanisms with professional ethics (P<0.01). There is a significant positive correlation between the developed mechanisms, temperament, and character with professional ethics (P<0.01). Psychological defense mechanisms also mediate the relationship between personality traits of Temperament and Character with professional ethics (P<0.01). The research model had a good fit and also, and the value of the general explanation coefficient in direct and indirect paths by personality traits of Temperament and Character and psychological defense mechanisms on professional ethics was equal to R2=0.51. In general, by increasing the personality traits of Temperament and Character, we can see the optimal use of adaptive defense mechanisms in different situations, which can increase the likelihood of behaviors based on professional ethics in hospital staff.