How Personality Types Shape the Link Between Nursing Work Environment and Subjective Well-Being

Guided by the Cognitive-Affective Personality System theory, this study aimed to identify Big Five personality profiles among clinical nurses and test the hypotheses that favorable nursing work-environment dimensions would be positively associated with subjective well-being and that these associations would differ across personality profiles.

This cross-sectional study included 1186 nurses from a tertiary hospital in Beijing. Participants completed the General Well-Being Schedule, the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory-15, and the Nursing Work Environment Scale. Latent profile analysis identified personality profiles, and hierarchical regression examined moderation effects. Bonferroni correction was applied across seven moderation models.

Three personality profiles were identified: resilient (43.17%), cautious (50.08%), and independent (6.75%). All seven nursing work-environment dimensions were positively associated with subjective well-being. After Bonferroni correction, personality profile significantly moderated the associations of recognition climate (ΔR² = 0.006, p = 0.002) and professional autonomy (ΔR² = 0.005, p = 0.006) with subjective well-being. For recognition climate, the positive association was weaker among cautious nurses than among resilient nurses (β = -0.140, p < 0.001), whereas independent nurses did not differ significantly from resilient nurses. A similar pattern was observed for professional autonomy: the positive association was weaker among cautious nurses than among resilient nurses (β = -0.121, p < 0.01), whereas independent nurses did not differ significantly from resilient nurses. No significant moderation was found for the other five work-environment dimensions.

Personality profiles showed a selective and small moderating role, with significant moderation involving recognition climate and professional autonomy. In both models, the positive association with subjective well-being was weaker among cautious nurses than among resilient nurses. Broad improvement of the nursing work environment should remain the primary management priority, while personality-informed support may be used cautiously as a supporting strategy.

Nursing managers should prioritize broad improvements in the nursing work environment, provide recognition that is specific, timely, supportive, and focused on professional contributions rather than interpersonal comparison, and support professional autonomy with clear decision boundaries, procedural guidance, and accessible supervisory support. Personality-informed support may be considered cautiously as a supporting strategy.