FACTORIAL VALIDITY OF PERSONALITY STRUCTURE IN MEDICAL-SCHOOL APPLICANTS

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were administrated to 413 UCLA medical school applicants for the class of 1989. The 40 factored homogeneous item dimensions defining eight personality factors, two Validity scale scores, age, and sex were factor analyzed. It was found that all eight factors were identified, and the congruence coefficients indicated that the personality structure of the applicants is in substantial agreement with what has been found previously in four other groups. Construct validity substantiated by the analysis is evident. Significant differences in factor score means between medical school applicants and normative groups were found, however, for all personality factors, except for the Masculinity vs. Femininity scale in males.