Research rarely considers the combined influence of personality traits and values in predicting behavioral outcomes. We aimed to advance a germinal line of inquiry that addresses this gap by separately and simultaneously examining personality traits and physician work values to predict medical specialty choice. First-year medical students (125…

Results of the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire completed by 161 physicians indicated that role consciousness, abstractedness, and tough mindedness differentiated medical specialties (surgeons, anesthesiologists, family practitioners). Results correlated with the use of differences between person orientation and technique orientation to…

This study investigated differences in personality patterns between person-oriented and technique-oriented physicians. It tested an integrative framework by converting the scores on the Personality Research Form (PRF) to the Big-Five factors and built a predictive model of group membership in clinical specialty area. PRF scores from 238 physicians…

Person matching promotes career exploration and choice by linking persons to persons in occupations based on inventory profile score similarity. We examined the efficacy of the procedure for career specialty choice. Medical students (N=196 women, 224 men) responded to the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) in their first year of…

Purpose: This study represents the first reporting of aggregate data of a longitudinal study designed to identify correlations between medical student personality traits and type of residency, later selected. It is a multisite project involving four US medical schools over a period of nearly ten years. The current study sought to test the…

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a working model to explain medical specialty decision-making. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory, we examined personality, medical specialty preferences, job satisfaction, and expectations about specialty choice to create a conceptual framework to guide specialty choice decision-making.…

The present study tested the hypothesis that medical specialties classified as technique oriented or patient oriented would be distinguished by RIASEC code, with technique-oriented specialists resembling Investigative-Realistic types and patient-oriented specialists resembling Investigative-Social types. Using longitudinal data obtained from 447…

Purpose: Despite medical schools having some system in place to review student progress and promote students (referred to hereafter as academic review and promotions; ARP), little research has been done with the purpose of understanding personality characteristics of the students who appear before an ARP committee or governing body. A recent study…

Vocational identity is an important construct for physician career development. Physician vocational development has been grouped into three tasks (crystallization, specification, and implementation) pertaining to career choice and specialty choice (1) In defining the construct of vocational identity, it has been suggested that the relation…

This study is a continuation of an earlier investigation of personality and medical specialty choice. The earlier study determined that personality differences existed among family practitioners, anesthesiologists, and general surgeons. Based on this initial research, an attempt was made to answer the question of how the personality factors of…

Medical schools must use selection methods that validly measure applicants' noncognitive qualities, but primary-care (PC) schools have a particular need. This study correlated entering students' personality and values scores with their professed interest in PC. 93 medical students completed instruments assessing personality (16PF & PSP), values,…