Personality, empathy, and students' attitudes toward wheelchair users

Introduction: This study investigates the relationship between personality traits (extraversion, introversion, neuroticism), empathy levels, and attitudes toward wheelchair users among 4,474 university students from Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Slovakia. Methods: Data were collected via an anonymous online survey (2024-2025) using the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) for personality, the KRE-II Scale for empathy, and the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) for social attitudes. Results: Extraversion was significantly associated with higher empathy, while neuroticism correlated with specific aspects of emotional sensitivity. High empathy (62% of respondents) was linked to more positive attitudes toward wheelchair users; overall, 70% of students reported positive attitudes. Notably, Ukrainian students exhibited higher empathy (75%) and more positive attitudes toward wheelchair users (78%). Conclusion: These findings suggest that personality traits, particularly extraversion and neuroticism, significantly influence empathy and attitudes toward wheelchair users. Cross-national variations highlight the interplay between individual dispositions and broader sociopolitical contexts, underscoring the potential for educational interventions to foster empathy and supportive attitudes toward individuals with mobility limitations.