Researchers who plan to debate the nursing practice habits and nurses’ professional-individual self and identity can study out nurse habitus. Habitus affects how the nurses understand care needs of patients. Also, sociotropy-autonomy is important for both the personal and professional development of nurses. According to researchers, professional criteria are autonomy, commitment to the profession and unity consciousness.

The study was designed to investigate of nurses’ sociotropic-autonomic personality features levels in the context of emotional habitus.

Information form, sociotropy-autonomy scale were applied to 10 nurses. Also, semi-structured thorough individual interviews were made with them.

Seven nurses have voluntarily chosen their profession and the others are not. Nurses’ sociotropy levels were 59.2 ± 22. Sixteen and autonomy levels were 83.9 ± 22.41. According to the results of the MWU test (U = .0 P < .05), anxiety about disapproval of eight undergraduate nurse (MR = 4.5) is lower than two graduated from health school nurse (MR = 9.5). Five nurses stated that nursing is appropriate for their personal character. Six nurses stated that nursing influenced the positive development of personal character. With content analysis, similarities and differences between nursing identity and social identity, optimal behaviour in expressing feelings of nurses and emotional habitus themes were reached.

Nurse habitus is developed by both of individual and structural factors which are complex and diversity. So, it affects nurses’ career and motivation to provide services. That the researcher assesses them from this aspect affects positively the quality of care.

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.