Personality patterns of physicians in person-oriented and technique-oriented specialties

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2003.12.015
• Publication Date: 2005-06-05T07:14:55Z
• Authors: Nicole J. Borges; Denise D. Gibson
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

Abstract 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 (153 person-oriented and 85 technique-oriented) were used for this retrospective study. Significant personality differences between group means existed for seven of the traits on the PRF and two Big-Five factors. Results of a stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that two PRF traits and one Big-Five factor had the greatest ability to discriminate between person-oriented and technique-oriented physicians. Findings of this study provide support for establishing personality profiles of physicians interested in person-oriented versus technique-oriented specialties. Examining personality differences among male and female physicians is discussed as an area for future research.