The use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) practices is growing worldwide. To understand the reasons behind this trend, we explored basic psychological variables such as personality traits and thinking dispositions as predictors of TCAM use. A sample representative of the Serbian adult population (N = 1003; 57.6% female; age range: 18-75) completed: 1) TCAM-22, a comprehensive checklist for indicating lifelong use of 22 TCAM practices such as acupuncture, use of herbal products, meditation/mindfulness, and prayer for own health, 2) HEXACO personality inventory, 3) DELTA inventory assessing the additional personality trait of Disintegration - a tendency towards psychotic-like experiences, 4) REI-8 assessing rational and experiential thinking styles, and 5) the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). An average participant used eight TCAM practices during their lifetime (M = 7.92), but there was also a considerable level of variability in TCAM use (SD = 3.30). Personality traits and thinking dispositions were significant predictors of TCAM use, F(10, 992) = 10.70, p < .001, explaining 9.7% of its variance. More use of TCAM was best predicted by high experientiality (β = .16) and high Openness (β = .14), followed by high Emotionality (β = .12) and Disintegration (β = .11), with low Honesty-Humility (β = -.09) and low cognitive reflection (β = -.06) also contributing to the prediction. Our results suggest that thinking styles and personality traits may play a significant role in the choice of medical treatment and should thus be taken into consideration when planning healthcare strategies.

Authors:
Predrag Teovanović, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Danka Purić, University of Belgrade, Serbia

About the Presenter(s)
I am applying the methodological and conceptual apparatus of differential psychology on judgment and decision-making (JDM) field questions in order to gain an improved understanding of rational behavior and optimal cognitive functioning.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Predrag-Teovanovic

The main fields of my interests are constructs at the intersection of cognition and personality, with an emphasis on individual differences. I am particularly interested in different ways of measuring and assessing human abilities and traits.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Predrag-Teovanovic

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Predrag-Teovanovic

Additional website of interest
https://lira.f.bg.ac.rs/phd-predrag-teovanovic/

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