Personality Perceptions of Medical School Applicants

dc.creator	Mitchell Rothstein
dc.date	2002-11-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-12T11:19:47Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-12T11:19:47Z
dc.identifier	1087-2981
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/96700c9b67564c73955a8b1cbce57469
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/27857
dc.description	Purpose To examine the extent to which medical school interviewers consider perceptions of applicant personality traits during a semi-structured panel interview, the interrater reliability of assessments, and the impact of such perceptions on individual admission decisions. Method Semi-structured panel interviews were conducted with applicants to the Doctor of Medicine Program at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. Interviewers also provided voluntary, research only ratings of applicants on nine relevant personality traits. Data from 345 applicants under consideration for admission were available for analysis. Results Significant correlations were observed between personality ratings and important operational variables (e.g., interview scores). Applicants who were most likely to be admitted to the program were perceived as high on certain traits (i.e., Achievement, Nurturance, Endurance, Cognitive Structure, & Order) and low on other traits (i.e., Abasement, Aggression, & Impulsivity). Statistically removing variance shared with personality ratings from interview scores resulted in different admission decisions for over 40% of the applicants. Interrater reliabilities for personality perceptions were relatively low. However, interrater reliability of the panel interview used to make admission decisions was acceptable. Nonlinear relations between personality perceptions and interview scores were also explored. Conclusion Some evidence was found that interviewers perceptions of applicant personality may affect their judgments when assigning interview ratings. Given that non-cognitive characteristics are perceived as important in the admissions process and that perceptions of personality traits have implications for decisions about which candidates to admit, suggestions for identifying desirable non-cognitive characteristics and for increasing the quality of assessments are offered.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Medical Education Online
dc.relation	http://www.med-ed-online.org/res00038.htm
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1087-2981
dc.rights	CC BY
dc.source	Medical Education Online, Vol 7, Pp 11- (2002)
dc.subject	medical education
dc.subject	health professional education
dc.subject	peer-reviewed
dc.subject	Evaluation
dc.subject	Admissions
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Medicine (General)
dc.subject	R5-920
dc.subject	Medicine
dc.subject	R
dc.subject	DOAJ:Medicine (General)
dc.subject	DOAJ:Health Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Medicine (General)
dc.subject	R5-920
dc.subject	Medicine
dc.subject	R
dc.subject	DOAJ:Medicine (General)
dc.subject	DOAJ:Health Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Medicine (General)
dc.subject	R5-920
dc.subject	Medicine
dc.subject	R
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Medicine (General)
dc.subject	R5-920
dc.subject	Medicine
dc.subject	R
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Medicine (General)
dc.subject	R5-920
dc.subject	Medicine
dc.subject	R
dc.title	Personality Perceptions of Medical School Applicants
dc.type	article