Relationship between personality traits and pharmacist performance in a pharmacy practice research trial

Background: Pharmacy practice research is one avenue through which new pharmacy services can be integrated into daily pharmacy practice. However, pharmacists' participation in this research has not been well characterized. Drawing from the literature on work performance and personality traits, 4 hypotheses were developed to gain insight into pharmacists' performance in a pharmacy practice research trial. Methods: This study was an observational, cross-sectional survey of pharmacists participating in a research trial. All pharmacists were asked to complete the Big Five Inventory (BFI), a validated, reliable instrument of personality traits. These results were then compared with measures of pharmacists' performance in the trial. Results: Thirty pharmacists expressed interest in participating in the trial; 23 completed the BFI and 14 actively participated in the pharmacy practice research trial. No statistically significant differences were identified in the examination of the predetermined hypotheses. Exploratory analyses revealed significant relationships between the BFI trait of extroversion and pharmacists' participation in the study, obtaining prescribing authority for the study and the number of patients lost to follow-up. Discussion: In addition to identifying a number of personality traits that have been shared by other samples of pharmacists, this work suggests the possibility of an interaction between pharmacists' personality traits and their performance in a pharmacy practice research trial. Conclusion: Future research should better characterize the relationship between pharmacists' personality traits and participation in pharmacy practice research trials to gain insight into the context of pharmacy practice and how pharmacists are integrating this research into their practices.