Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Future directions in personality, occupational and medical selection: myths, misunderstandings, measurement, and suggestions

Ferguson, Eamonn; Lievens, Filip

Authors

EAMONN FERGUSON eamonn.ferguson@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Health Psychology

Filip Lievens



Abstract

This paper has two objectives: (1) presenting recent advances in the personality field concerning the conceptualization of personality arising from the dynamic interactions of behaviour, biology, context, and states, and (2) discussing the implications of these developments for medical selection. We start by presenting evidence that traits are not longer regarded as deterministic and stable. Instead, they are found to change across generations, the life span, and in response to environmental contingencies. Next, drawing on recent research (behavioural reaction norms and the density distribution model) we posit how the expression of trait relevant behaviour changes depending on the situation, such that personality reflects both stability and plasticity across situations. Thus there is an urgent need to explore how traits change as function of medical education. Third, we demystify that some traits are better than others showing that so-called “good” traits have a dark-side. Fourth, we show how these developments impact on how personality might be assessed, thereby presenting recent evidence on the use of contextualized personality measures, Situational Judgment Tests, other reports, and implicit measures. Throughout the paper, we outline the key implications of these developments for medical selection practices.

Citation

Ferguson, E., & Lievens, F. (2017). Future directions in personality, occupational and medical selection: myths, misunderstandings, measurement, and suggestions. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 22(2), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-016-9751-0

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 29, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 20, 2017
Publication Date May 1, 2017
Deposit Date Aug 12, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Advances in Health Sciences Education
Print ISSN 1382-4996
Electronic ISSN 1573-1677
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 22
Issue 2
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-016-9751-0
Keywords Personality, Personality Change, Medical Selection, Health, Five Factor Model, Behavioural Reaction Norms, Situational Judgement Tests, Contextualization, Implicit Measures
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/858588
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10459-016-9751-0

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations