Gender Differences in Personality Traits and Mental Health Challenges of Early-Career Doctoral Faculty Members

This study explores the relationship between personality traits and mental health among early-career doctoral faculty members in China, with an emphasis on gender-specific patterns. Aiming to address a gap in academic mental health research, particularly within the context of faculty psychological well-being, the study examines how distinct personality profiles may relate to mental health outcomes differently for men and women. Participants were drawn from universities in southwestern China and completed two standardized assessments: the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), which evaluates a broad range of psychological symptoms, and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), which measures a comprehensive spectrum of personality traits. Statistical methods, including norm-referenced comparisons, gender-stratified analyses, and canonical correlation analysis, were used to assess the interplay between personality and mental health. Results indicated notable gender-based differences in both personality profiles and psychological symptom patterns, underscoring the need for more personalized, gender-responsive approaches to mental health support in academia. The accompanying dataset comprises anonymized, item-level responses from both psychological instruments, along with relevant demographic information such as gender and academic discipline. It allows for detailed secondary analyses of the psychological landscape of early-career faculty members, supports research on individual differences in mental health risk, and serves as a resource for developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies informed by personality. This dataset offers a rich foundation for future longitudinal and cross-cultural studies examining the dynamic interrelations between personality structure and psychological well-being in academic professionals.