A new University of Queensland study suggests that farmers really are a special breed with personality traits that set them apart from city people.
Dr Marilyn Shrapnel, Dr Jim Davie and Dr Bruce Frank of the School of Natural and Rural Systems Management have conducted a two-year Australian Research Council-funded study, looking at the issue of personality as it influences land management by landholders involved in grazing and mixed cropping in Central Queensland.
According to Emerald-based Dr Shrapnel, a psychiatrist with many years clinical experience, the study of 60 people found personalities were represented by combinations of only five of the 14 personality styles which psychiatrists recognised in the general population. Landholders showed characteristics strongly adaptative to challenges of their difficult and isolated lifestyles. "In a real sense the farmers with whom we worked are a special breed," she said.
"In previous decades, those with personality styles less well suited to this industry found employment in nearby rural towns. However, this option has declined as government policy has favoured the withdrawal of services and resources, hastening depopulation of rural areas. The resultant weakening of the social fabric of rural society is a cause of tension and stress with serious health implications.
"In the grazing lands of central western Queensland, our findings suggest a predominant personality profile consistent with an ability to cope with isolation and the other particular challenges that characterise this way of life." People surveyed had:
o A capacity for hard work and perseverance (Conscientious personality style);
o Autonomy, capacity to make decisions (Vigilant personality style);
o Great capacity to cope with adversity (Serious personality style);
o Comfort with solitude, fully self-contained, stoical (Solitary personality style);
o Comfort with a small circle of friends, with little need for company (Sensitive personality style).
"Rural landholders were undergoing extended economic hardship, manifested in a range of social and ecological problems that limited the capacity of local areas to recover to economic levels necessary to sustain settlement. The uncertain influence of climate on production represents just one of the range of risk factors that landholders must face," she said.
"Survival depends on the capacity of landholders to respond strategically to the stress which these risk factors generate. Our research indicates that landholders' capacities to modify land management practices are dictated by their underlying personality traits and by their psychological resources."
"There are important policy implications for government in these results," Dr Davie said. "It is very important for "city-based" people to listen to the bush when we devise our policy initiatives. For example, the current emphasis on group learning processes in farm extension has limitations because the personality styles represented are more comfortable in one to one meetings. Cost saving that might result from adopting group approaches may not be effective in facilitating the changes being sought in those who most need assistance. A very significant percentage of the population may not be reached by new technical information because of permanent of temporary incapacity to deal with the stresses which characterise rural life to-day. Other complementary government initiatives involving the provision of health, welfare and financial assistance need to be well targeted to reduce the severity of stress related health problems", he said.
Media: Further information: Dr Jim Davie, telephone 33659015 or 0408 478 155 or Jan King at UQ Communications telephone 0413 601 248.
Enquiries can also be directed to communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au
