title: Personality characteristics in a Swedish national sample of identifiable oocyte donors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the personality characteristics of identifiable oocyte donors in a national sample in comparison with normal values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive study.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Swedish donation programmes.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 181 women out of 221 donors recruited during 2005-2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standardised questionnaires were used to measure personality characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographics, temperament and character inventory (TCI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority (69%) of the donors had biological children of their own. The results from the TCI indicate that the oocyte donors were all within the normal range of character. With regard to personality, a significant difference was evident between the two groups: oocyte donors showed lower means for harm avoidance and higher scores for persistence than the controls. This indicates that the donors felt less worried, and displayed a lower level of fear of uncertainty, shyness and fatiguability, and a higher level of persistence, than the controls. In the present sample, 29 (16%) of the donors were so-called 'known donors', that is the recipient couples and the donors were known to each other. 'Known donors' displayed a mature and stable character.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the women who had been accepted for inclusion in this nationwide oocyte donor programme were all well adjusted and mature.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.Gunilla.Sydsjo@lio.se
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sydsjö
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lampic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brändström
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gudmundsson
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Karlström
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Solensten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thurin-Kjellberg
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Svanberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002605:Character; D033001:Directed Tissue Donation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D018587:Oocyte Donation; D010552:Personality Assessment; D013548:Sweden; D013694:Temperament; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology*