DISC Personality Traits and Well-Being Among Medical Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Cultural Pilot: Cross-Sectional Study

This cross-sectional pilot study examined associations between DISC personality traits (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) and psychological well-being among 62 medical students from 10 countries at a private university in Saudi Arabia. Well-being was measured with the WHO-5 well-being index (mean=14.08, SD=4.99) using simplified self-categorization for DISC assessment. Steadiness (69.4%) and Conscientiousness (66.1%) were the most frequently endorsed traits, consistent with patterns observed in other medical trainee populations. No significant associations were found between any DISC trait and WHO-5 well-being scores. Effect sizes were small (Steadiness g=0.43, 95% CI − 0.06 to 1.00; Influence g=0.34, 95% CI − 0.17 to 0.89), and multivariable regression explained minimal variance (R 2 =0.074). Conscientiousness prevalence differed across countries (P=0.001), although subgroup sizes were small. These null findings suggest no association between DISC traits and well-being in this pilot sample, contrasting with recent studies reporting DISC associations with perceived stress. This divergence highlights important distinctions between stress reactivity and baseline well-being as outcomes. Broader contextual factors including academic workload, institutional support, and cultural context may be more relevant to well-being than behavioral style alone. DISC may be more appropriately applied to communication training and team development rather than well-being prediction. Future research should employ validated DISC instruments, larger culturally balanced samples, and examine both stress and well-being outcomes to clarify the differential predictive utility of personality profiles across psychological constructs.