The impact of openness to experience personality trait on attitudes of medical students toward euthanasia: the moderating role of spiritual intelligence

Abstract

Euthanasia is the most important ethical challenges in the entire field of medicine. Various factors may influence the medical students’ attitudes toward euthanasia, including personal beliefs, values, and personality traits. This research aimed at examining spiritual intelligence as a moderator of the relationship between openness to experience and attitude toward euthanasia. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 219 medical students (85 men and 134 women) in Zahedan, Iran, in 2022, were selected by convenience sampling method and evaluated using the socio-demographic information form (including age, gender, and medical education level), Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, 24-item Brief HEXACO Inventory, and Euthanasia Attitude Scale, followed by using SPSS v25 for data analysis. The study results showed that openness to experience positively and spiritual intelligence negatively associated with attitude toward euthanasia. Also, the regression analysis revealed that spiritual intelligence had a moderating role in the relationship between openness to experience and attitude toward euthanasia. It seems that paying attention to personality differences and spiritual intelligence training among medical students can play an important role in changing their attitudes toward euthanasia.