ISSN: 2226-6348
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Volunteers contributed substantially to the routine and public-facing operations of Malaysia's mass vaccination programme; nevertheless, limited attention has been given to the personality characteristics of individuals serving in these roles. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to describe the Big Five personality profile of 127 volunteers recruited through convenience sampling at the MIECC Vaccination Centre (PPV). Personality was assessed using the 44-item Malay-language Big Five Inventory (BFI), and the resulting data were analysed descriptively. Among the five dimensions, agreeableness recorded the highest mean (M = 3.45), followed by conscientiousness (M = 3.41), extraversion (M = 3.17), openness (M = 2.83) and neuroticism (M = 1.69). Agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness were classified at moderate levels, whereas neuroticism was classified as low. These findings indicate that, within this sample, cooperative tendencies were relatively more prominent while self-reported anxiety and emotional instability were less pronounced. However, the descriptive scores should not be interpreted as evidence of task suitability or effective performance. The study provides an initial Malaysian reference for the personality profile of volunteers in a vaccination-centre setting and highlights the need for multi-centre research to determine whether comparable patterns occur elsewhere and whether the traits are related to task fit and performance.
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