Subsequently, extraverted people can function more efficiently in the presence of others. This is seen in research showing that university teachers who are extraverted are better evaluated and attain higher levels of teaching effectiveness. There is a need for empirical work on the impact of extraversion on teaching performance of attending physicians involved in residency training. Emotional stability involves high levels of self-esteem, positive affect and low levels of stress and anxiety. Indeed, a lack of emotional stability is associated with high levels of stress, anxiety and neuroticism. Research suggests that university teachers who are emotionally unstable are hindered in their performance by their insecurities and anxieties. Also, anxiety has been shown to affect working memory adversely and to deplete available cognitive resources, which tend to hinder in adequate coping of stressful situations. Therefore, emotionally unstable people are more likely to perceive stressful situations as threats. In contradiction, emotionally stable people are more likely to perceive stressful situations as challenging, as they experience less negative emotions and do not deplete cognitive resources to deal with the situation. In clinical teaching, attending physicians must pay attention to both patient well-being and resident training quality, and must adequately respond to arising circumstances. These are demanding for attending physicians’ cognitive resources. As such, being emotionally unstable might inhibit teaching performance of attending physicians, while emotional stability could facilitate their teaching. Still, there is little empirical investigation into the impact of emotional stability on clinical teaching performance in residency training. Another personality trait that remains unexplored in the context of clinical teaching is agreeableness. Agreeableness refers to friendliness and includes being kind, cooperative, flexible and tolerant. Research suggests that agreeableness has positive relations with work performance where social interaction is part of the job, especially when it involves helping and cooperating with others. This is likely to be the case in residency training. Agreeable attending physicians are thought to be good in teaching and acting on residents’ personal learning needs, because of their natural tendency to take into account the interests of other people. This is consistent with findings that good teachers in medicine are personable, altruistic and consider others’ viewpoints. Yet, no research has quantified the relationship between agreeableness and teaching performance of attending physicians. Finally, openness is a personality trait that refers to being open and receptive to experience. Openness is associated with being imaginative, cultured, curious, and broad-minded. Findings suggesting that curiosity benefits teaching effectiveness are in line with possible benefits of openness.