The state of ‘Organisational Well-being’ or ‘Organisational Health’ is inseparable from the concept of ‘Health’, which has been defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2006) in a holistic sense. ‘Health’ comprehensively encompasses the mind-body unity of the individual within his or her socio-cultural context, it represents ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO Constitution, 2006, p. 1).

Organisational well-being refers to the way in which people live in relation to several aspects of the organisation in which they work. Anthony J. Montgomery et al. (2020) describes well-being challenge as ‘the ability of an organisation to promote and maintain the highest degree of physical, psychological and social well-being of workers in all types of employment’. Organisational malaise, on the contrary, represents the antithesis of what has been stated about organisational well-being, a condition of worker discomfort and suffering (Torri & Toniolo, 2010). The main components representing the macro dimensions that every organisation must refer to in order to achieve and maintain the well-being objective are: satisfaction with the organisation; desire to be committed to the organisation; feeling of being part of a team; desire to go to work; high involvement; feeling of self-efficacy; perception of success of the organisation; positive work-life relationship; satisfactory interpersonal relationships; recognition of organisational work; positive image of managers (De Simone, 2014; Wall et al. 2021).

All public administrations must periodically carry out surveys to detect workers state of well-being. These surveys are aimed at a recognition of the ‘health state’ of the organisation itself and aim to implement interventions to improve the workers well-being and consequently increase the productivity of the health authority (Carvajal-Arango et al., 2021).

Over the past twenty years, data has shown several studies related to Temperament and Character, conducted on specific groups such as military personnel (Elsass, 2001; Han & Lee, 2013; Jang et al. 2014), nurses (Eley et al., 2011; Mihailovic et al., 2022; Yazici et al., 2014), office workers (Hwang et al., 2020), phisicians (Sievert et al., 2016; Vaidya et al., 2004), students (Rizzo & Liang, 2017) etc. and in international, rather than national, contexts, neglecting the obstetrical-gynaecological sphere.

Temperament is the result of biological evolution that conditions the individual from birth and is determined by intrinsic factors in humans. Temperament, personality and character are independent concepts, although often misunderstood and interchanged. They are the result of various factors, both innate and acquired, that influence each individual throughout his or her life history (Cloninger et al., 1993; Rizzo, 2013).

Considering that each healthcare professional, before being considered as a ‘worker’ is an individual with unique personality, character, and temperament, who consciously influence and is influenced by the work context, the career choices, and the care setting (Mento, Rizzo et al., 2016; 2019).

Robert C. Cloninger’s biosocial theory (1993) suggests that personality is a combination of neurobiologically inherited traits (temperamental dimension) and traits influenced by sociocultural factors (character dimension). Cloninger’s classification of personality types includes a three-dimensional model (Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, and Reward Dependence), later expanded to a seven-dimensional structure. The temperament dimensions include Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, and Reward Dependence, while the character dimensions encompass Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, Self-transcendence, and Persistence (for a complete description see: Rizzo, 2013). The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a validated self-administered test that assesses these dimensions, aiding in the diagnosis and treatment planning of psychiatric disorders. The TCI provides a profile that helps understand an individual’s personality in categorical diagnostic assessments (Cloninger et al., 1994).

A study conducted in Norway by Michael Kluger et al. (1999) recruited doctors, anaesthetists and anaesthetist residents as part of the sample, administering the TCI in a sample of 364 phisicians. Findings showed the anaesthetist specialists reporting high scores on the Cooperativeness, Harm Avoidance and Self-Directionality scales compared to the general population sample. Physicians reported high scores on Cooperativeness compared to their anaesthetist colleagues, while residents scored high on Novelty Seeking and Reward Dependence. A personality disorders was found in 10% of residents, 2% of physicians, and 9% of anaesthetists with implications for recruitment, risk management and professional development.

In 2009, a study was conducted on nurses within the psychiatric department, assessing self-esteem and temperament, to determine which factor determines occupational stress. The results showed a gender difference, women presented a higher self-esteem, furthermore, the study shows that the most prevalent subtype was Hyperthymic Temperament, observing an interaction between the subtypes of temperament, self-esteem, and professional experience. This shows the importance of investigating in the healthcare field to detect those factors that indicate personality and temperament disorders to improve organisational well-being and customer satisfaction (Cordeiro & Figueira, 2009).

Analyzing the well-being process and all the related intrinsic and extrinsic factors, we hypothesize a correlation between the dimensions of the health professional’s temperament (persistence, self-transcendence, cooperation, harm avoidance, self- directedness, reward dependency, novelty seeking) and the dimensions of organisational well-being perceived by the worker. There is much evidence in the literature of the interconnection between temperament and adaptation (Vaughn & Shin, 2011). Adaptability is that characteristic which allows one to easily adapt to changes or to a new environment. Temperament can be assumed to be the basis on which perceptions of one’s environment are built (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005).

At the same time, there is scientific evidence that events and the environment, due to their reciprocal interaction with the person, can create changes in traits, which from a clinical point of view constitute an attempt at adaptation, an accommodation reaction (Quinn et al., 2009).

To our knowledge, few studies in the literature have related organisational well-being and temperament according to Robert Cloninger’s bio-psycho-social model, especially among obstetrics personnel. Given these premises, it is easy to understand how both, as a biological and genetic disposition, and character, as the result of reciprocal interactions between person and environment, can be closely related to organisational well-being.

The study took place before Covid-19. The participants were individually interviewed in person, after signing an informed consent, with reference to the regulations requiring the periodic assessment expected by the health system of perceived organisational well-being. The participants completed two paper-and-pencil tests consisting of a pool of over 320 items. Completion took between 20 and 40 minutes on average, in a single session. The research guaranteed anonymity, as requested by the ethical principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki regarding subjects involved in research. The present survey did not involve any manipulation or risk.

Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS 27.0 (IBM, Chicago, Illinois). We focused on descriptive statistic, which would give an account of the results obtained from the sample, to adequately describe the expression of the variables measured. Furthermore, it was possible to explore the mutual influence between Temperament, Character and Organisational Well-being through the calculation of Pearson’s correlations.

Ultimately, the character scales were correlated with the dimensions of organizational well-being (see Table 6).

Results indicates that character is the aspect of personality most closely related to the perception of well-being. Significant associations emerged between self-directedness and satisfaction with work and the work context (p< 0.05).

A correlation also emerged between the self-transcendent type and the perception of job security and discrimination. In fact, the result shows that the higher the dimension of Self-transcendence, the lower the person perceives the security of their work environment (p< 0.01). Moreover, the level of Self-transcendence is also associated with higher work discrimination (p< 0.05).