How Personality Traits Shape Internal and External Whistleblowing Intentions among Nurses

This study investigates the effects of nurses' personality traits on their internal and external whistleblowing intentions. The study was conducted in Türkiye, with 290 nurses working in the healthcare sector participating in a cross-sectional investigation. The short form of the six-factor inventory (HEXACO-60) was used to assess personality traits, and a scale consisting of questions about external and internal whistleblowing intention was used to measure whistleblowing intention. Data were collected through an online survey via an open-source platform. To explore the effects of personality traits on internal and external whistleblowing intentions, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Correlation analyses revealed that significant relationships exist between Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion and whistleblowing intentions. The findings from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) showed that Extraversion and Conscientiousness had a positive effect on internal whistleblowing intention; however, external whistleblowing intention was negatively affected by Honesty-Humility and positively affected by Emotionality. The findings highlight the importance of employees' personality traits in understanding how healthcare professionals report wrongdoing. More specifically, nurses with higher levels of Extraversion and Conscientiousness are more likely to use internal channels within the organization to report wrongdoing. On the other hand, nurses with higher levels of Emotionality and lower levels of Honesty-Humility tend to report wrongdoing outside the organization. These findings contribute to organizational behavior theory with whistleblowing intentions, especially, and provide practical implications for strengthening the healthcare sector.