TY - JOUR
T1 - Personality Scale Validities Increase Throughout Medical School
AU - Lievens, Filip
AU - Ones, Deniz S.
AU - Dilchert, Stephan
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - Admissions and personnel decisions rely on stable predictor-criterion relationships. The authors studied the validity of Big Five personality factors and their facets for predicting academic performance in medical school across multiple years, investigating whether criterion-related validities change over time. In this longitudinal investigation, an entire European country's 1997 cohort of medical students was studied throughout their medical school career (Year 1, N = 627; Year 7, N = 306). Over time, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness factor and facet scale scores showed increases in operational validity for predicting grade point averages. Although there may not be any advantages to being open and extraverted for early academic performance, these traits gain importance for later academic performance when applied practice increasingly plays a part in the curriculum. Conscientiousness, perhaps more than any other personality trait, appears to be an increasing asset for medical students: Operational validities of conscientiousness increased from .18 to .45. In assessing the utility of personality measures, relying on early criteria might underestimate the predictive value of personality variables. Implications for personality measures to predict work performance are discussed.
AB - Admissions and personnel decisions rely on stable predictor-criterion relationships. The authors studied the validity of Big Five personality factors and their facets for predicting academic performance in medical school across multiple years, investigating whether criterion-related validities change over time. In this longitudinal investigation, an entire European country's 1997 cohort of medical students was studied throughout their medical school career (Year 1, N = 627; Year 7, N = 306). Over time, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness factor and facet scale scores showed increases in operational validity for predicting grade point averages. Although there may not be any advantages to being open and extraverted for early academic performance, these traits gain importance for later academic performance when applied practice increasingly plays a part in the curriculum. Conscientiousness, perhaps more than any other personality trait, appears to be an increasing asset for medical students: Operational validities of conscientiousness increased from .18 to .45. In assessing the utility of personality measures, relying on early criteria might underestimate the predictive value of personality variables. Implications for personality measures to predict work performance are discussed.
KW - grades
KW - longitudinal validation
KW - medical school
KW - personality validity
KW - professional education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=72249108746&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1037/a0016137
DO - 10.1037/a0016137
M3 - Article
C2 - 19916659
AN - SCOPUS:72249108746
SN - 0021-9010
VL - 94
SP - 1514
EP - 1535
JO - Journal of Applied Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Psychology
IS - 6
ER -