The Big Five Personality Traits as Predictors of Resilience and Self-efficacy Among Amputees

As the people live their lives here on earth, they cannot prevent certain things to happen. Events like calamities, crimes, disasters and even diseases are some of the reasons why other people needed to undergo amputation. Amputees are persons who have had one or more limbs removed through amputation. Richardson (2010) defined amputation as accidental removal or congenital absence of a limb or part of a limb. Amputation is one of the oldest known surgical procedures that was performed historically to remove gangrene or damaged limbs and to save lives (Manring et al. , 2009). It is defined as a medical procedure in which there is “partial or complete removal of a limb for a variety of reasons, including tumours, gangrene, intractable pain, crushing injury or uncontrollable infection” (Fremgen & Frucht, 2009, p. 10). Horne and Neil (2009) referred to amputation as triple insult, as it brings loss of function, loss of sensation, and loss or change of body image.

It causes disability, loss of productivity and employment, and delayed return to work, further contributing to the financial strain on the economy (Burger, 2010). Secondary psychosocial complications might affect daily life activities as well as interpersonal interactions and relationships. Fear of falling, decreased balance confidence, social avoidance and depression are all examples of psychosocial consequences of amputation (Mollera, Hagberg, Samulessone & Ramstranda, 2017). Disabled Filipinos or Filipinos who undergo amputation may develop inferiority complex towards the others. The inferiority complex may restrict them to act and minimize their real abilities and potentialities (Alayon, Dellupac, & Jareta, 2011). Amputation is a very traumatic experience and in order for the amputees to continue life, they need to build their resilience. Resilience is defined as the ability to successfully adapt or cope with adverse events, and then bounced back and returned to its functional state (Malgorzata, 2016; The Young Foundation, 2012; Paula Davis-Laack, 2014; Taormina, 2015).

Resilience gives people a powerful advantage in increasing productivity and improving performance. It empowers them to actively shape their success (Silver Lining Training, 2010). According to Narayanan (2010), being a resilient individual escapes psychological dysfunction in spite of difficult circumstances. People who are highly resilient are flexible, can adapt to new circumstances quickly, and thrive in constant change. They can bounce back from the traumatic events, tragedy, threats or even sources of stress such as family, relationships, academics, workplace etc. (Bodde, Schrier, Krans, Geertzen & Dijkstra, 2014).

Some individuals can also manage to cope up in various life challenges such as death of a relative, chronic illnesses, harassment, assault, unemployment, etc. (Ercan, 2017). Aside from resilience, having self-efficacy is also important among people. Bandura defines self-efficacy as the self-belief in ability or capabilities of an individual to perform specific tasks. He also pertains self-efficacy to a sense of control over one’s environment and behavior. It refers to an individual's belief in himself that he can take on challenges as high like their goals. It influences the effort of an individual to change risks behavior and the persistence to continue striving despite barriers and setbacks that may affect motivation (Geraghty, 2013). Bandura also defined self-efficacy as people’s judgements of their capabilities to organize and execute activities or actions required to attain designated types of performances. Self-efficacy is a belief about one’s capability, which does not necessarily match one’s actual capability in specific domain. Bandura argued that the most useful efficacy judgements are those that slightly exceed one’s actual capabilities because this can actually increase effort and persistence during difficult times. Self-efficacy is similar to self-esteem, but differs from self-esteem in that it is specific to task performance.

An understanding of self-efficacy is valuable for small business professionals who depend on workplace performance and productivity because self-efficacy levels influence thoughts, feelings and behaviors (Petersen, 2017). Self-efficacy beliefs lie at the core of human functioning. Possessing knowledge and skills are not enough for individuals to perform a task; they also must have the conviction that they can successfully perform the required behaviors under typically, and importantly, under challenging situations (Bandura as cited by Artino, 2012). Bandura said that people with high self-efficacy tend to try harder at the task and experience more positive emotions related to the task. People with a strong sense of self-efficacy view challenging situations as tasks to be mastered.

They develop deeper interest and passion in the activities they like to participate, form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities, and recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments. Those people who have a weak sense avoid challenging tasks, believe that difficult tasks and activities are beyond their capabilities, focus on personal failings and negative outcomes, and quickly lose confidence in personal abilities (Bandura as cited by Cherry, 2017). Self-efficacy affects an individual’s choice of activities, effort, and persistence. Bandura summarized the importance of self-efficacy in the following ways: through mechanisms of personal agency, people make causal contributions to their own psychological functioning. Among the mechanisms of personal agency, none is more pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy. They have little incentive to act unless people believe they can produce desired effects by their actions. Therefore, efficacy belief is a major basis of action. People guide their lives by their beliefs of self-efficacy (Bandura as cited by Artino Jr. , 2012).

In the study of Adina (2016), personality traits, which are their typical patterns of behaving, thinking, and feeling, are likely to be a source of resilience. Other researchers were interested in the possibility that the personality traits may influence their capacity to thrive even in the face of adversity. Fayombo (2010) focuses on how personality traits impact adolescents’ resilience. The result of his study revealed that there is a relationship between resilience and the personality traits which are Extraversion, Agreeableness, Consciousness, Openness to experience and Neuroticism. It shows that among the five personality traits listed, conscientiousness is the best predictor for resilience while agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience were other significant predictors, however, extraversion did not contribute significantly.

As Ambiel and Noronha (2016) mentioned, the results verify the predictive capacity of the Big Five personality factors related to self-efficacy. The results showed that Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were the main predictors of self-efficacy. Extraversion and Conscientiousness were the personality factors that better distinguish people with low and high levels of self-efficacy. Resilience and self-efficacy are present in amputated people. Bodde, Schrier, Krans, Geertzen, and Dijkstra (2014) indicated that amputees or people with disability have resilience. It shows that amputees are able to “bounce back” despite losing a part of the body. The results of their study showed that amputees who have a higher resilience also have a higher quality of life and experience lower psychological distress. Higher resilience is positively related to better physical functioning, higher quality of life and lower pain scores among patients with chronic conditions. Self-efficacy can also be seen in amputees as they lose one or more limbs in their body (Sunkarapalli, Fatima & Agarwa, 2016). According to the study of Sunkarapalli, Fatima and Agarwa (2016), self-efficacy is present to women, men and married couples. The present study of Mollera, Hagberg, Samulessone and Ramstranda (2017) suggests that a person with higher self-efficacy might be able to handle problems related to amputation in a better way than a person with low self-efficacy.

There are several studies regarding the predictors of resilience and self-efficacy. The researchers focus on the five dimensions of personality trait: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to Experience. First is extraversion which is characterized by sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and excitability. People who are high in extraversion tend to seek out social stimulation and opportunities to engage with others (Costa & McCrae as cited by Cherry, 2017). These individuals are often described as being full of life, energy and positivity. More extraverted individuals are more likely to initiate social interactions and enter more social situations, both of which are conducive to the formation of new relationships (Shipilov, Labianca, & Kalnysh, 2014).

Second is agreeableness which is a construct that rests on how people generally interact or how compatible people are with others. It concerns with the orientation and how they are able to get along with others. Agreeable traits include altruistic, trusting, modest, humble, patient, moderate, tactful, polite, kind, loyal, unselfish, helpful, sensitive, helpful, amiable, cheerful, considerate, empathetic, friendly, and generous. They also have an optimistic view of human nature. They tend to believe that most people are honest, decent, and trustworthy and less likely to suffer from social rejection (Bierman as cited by Fayombo, 2010; Lebowits, 2016). The third one is conscientiousness. Conscientious individuals are purposeful and determined. They have the tendency to act dutifully, to show self-discipline, and to aim for achievement against a measure or outside expectation.

Conscientiousness describes socially prescribed impulse control that facilitates task and goal-directed behavior, such as thinking before acting, delaying gratification, following norms and rules, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks (John & Srivastava as cited by N. Zaidi, Wajid, F. Zaidi, G. Zaidi & M. Zaidi, 2013). Neuroticism is the fourth one which refers to the emotional stability of an individual. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody and to experience feelings such as anxiety, worry, fear, anger, frustration, envy, jealousy, guilt, depressed mood, and loneliness (Thompson, 2008). Last is the openness to experience which is the only factor consistently and broadly related to creativity, predicting creative achievement and divergent thinking, as well as creative hobbies, personal goals, and thinking styles (Silvia, Nusbaum, Berg, Martin, & O’Connor, 2009; Silvia et al. , 2008).