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 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.
Meit
Scott S
SS
West Virginia University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Morgantown, WV 26506-9152, USA. meits@rcbhsc.wvu.edu
Borges
Nicole J
NJ
Cubic
Barbara A
BA
Yasek
Van
V
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires