The Millon-Illinois Self-Report Inventory Form P, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Personal Orientation Inventory were administered to 155 male and 37 female students across the four years of medical school to assess the personality differences between male and female medical students. Differences in mean scores were found between males and females on eight scales from the tests. The results indicated that female medical students' style of interpersonal relating is characterized by less emotional indifference and uninvolvement, less competitiveness and self-centeredness, less constriction and authoritarianism, and more impulsivity and negativism than that of their male colleagues. Further, compared to male students, the females were more likely to endorse items reflecting anxiety, emotional difficulties, and a value orientation that stresses being sensitive to one's own needs and feelings. The results were compared to those of previous research with male and female medical students.

Provided more knowledge about the personality dimensions that underlie the A-B scale particularly with respect to potential sex differences. A-B scores of two samples, 155 male and 36 female medical students, were related to their scale scores from the Personal Orientation Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Univariate analyses indicate that the present set of measures are related to A-B status for females, but not for males. For female medical students it appears that scoring as an A is associated with anxiety proneness, low self-esteem, constriction and introversion, rigidity, dependence, and guilt feelings. Implications of the present results and recommendations for future research with the A-B dimension are discussed.

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