Assessing Medical Students' Personalities: A Parallel Comparison of Normed and Perception-Based Metrics

Various methodologies have been applied in the study of physicians' and medical students' personalities. Little, however, has been reported on distinguishing medical students' self-perceptions from their objectively measured personality traits. 687 first-year medical students at three...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological reports 2005-06, Vol.96 (3_suppl), p.1029-1043
Main Authors: Meit, Scott S., Cubic, Barbara A., Borges, Nicole J., Yasek, Van
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Various methodologies have been applied in the study of physicians' and medical students' personalities. Little, however, has been reported on distinguishing medical students' self-perceptions from their objectively measured personality traits. 687 first-year medical students at three U.S. medical schools were administered the 16PF and a parallel, author-generated, self-rating form. Paired sample t tests yielded significant differences between students' perceived personality traits vs normed measures of these traits on 14 of 16 personality factor dimensions. Students self-attributed greater magnitudes of socially acceptable traits than their objective scores indicated, as well as less domineering, suspicious, and self-doubting. Implications for admissions and career counseling are discussed.
ISSN:0033-2941
1558-691X
DOI:10.2466/pr0.96.3c.1029-1043