Personal and demographic characteristics influencing global self-esteem of medical students in a Nigerian University

Abstract

The study investigates the role of personal and demographic characteristics in global self-esteem among 262 (183 male and 79 female) final year medical students of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 sessions of University of Benin. The study utilised a cross-sectional survey design and adopted the convenience sampling technique. to collect data on the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and locus of control. All the personality traits jointly accounted for a significant variance in global self-esteem, F (5, 256)= 14.61; p <.001), with R² = 22.2. Relatively, conscientiousness (β =.16; t = 2.53; p <.012), neuroticism (β = -.33; t = -5.07; p <.000), and openness to experience (β = .14; t = 2.33; p <.021) contributed significantly to the variance in global self-esteem. Also, the subscales of locus of control (internality, chance, and powerful others) jointly accounted for the variance in global self-esteem, F (3, 258) = 3.87; p <.05) with R² = 4.3. However, there were no significant differences in global self-esteem based on age groups, gender, ethnicity and marital status. The findings revealed that personal characteristics are likely predictors of the global self-esteem of medical students. Therefore, as part of clinical education, personal characteristics should be considered as an important tool for increasing the sense of self-esteem of medical students.

Keywords: Personal characteristics, locus of control, global self-esteem, medical students, Nigeria