Can Personality Traits Influence Resilience: Evidence From A Firefighter Training Academy

PURPOSE: Examine whether Firefighter (FF) candidate training influences resiliency and its relationship to other personality factors. METHODS: Male FF candidates (N= 76; 26.8 ± 3.8 yrs; BMI 26.9 ± 3.8 kg/m2) enrolled in the Illinois State Fire Academy completed a survey including measures of personality (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness, Extraversion, Emotional Stability; via IPIP) and Resilience (via DRS-15 composite and Commitment, Control, and Challenge subscale scores) at the beginning and end of a 7-week firefighter training Academy. RESULTS: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test revealed that the Resilience composite score and Commitment subscale were significantly different from Week 1 to Week 7 of Academy (P= 0.045; P= 0.025). Bivariate correlations between personality and Week 7 resilience scores revealed that FF candidates who scored higher in Extraversion had greater overall Resilience as well as greater Challenge and Control (r= 0.243, P= 0.055; r = 0.246, P= 0.047 r= -0.257, P= 0.039). Firefighters scoring higher in Conscientiousness had greater overall Resilience and Commitment (r= 0.280, P= 0.023; r= 0.309, P= 0.009). Finally, those who scored higher in Emotional Stability had greater overall Resilience and Control (r= 0.380, P= 0.002; r= 0.323, P= 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that FF candidates’ personality traits may predispose them to modification of Resilience along with the specific facets of Resilience, namely Commitment, Control, and Challenge following Academy training. The increase in Resilience following a relatively short FF training Academy that was not specifically designed to modify Resilience warrants further investigation