High and Low Levels of Dogmatism in Relation to Personality Characteristics of Medical Students: A Follow-up Study

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Abstract
The nature and direction of changes in attitudes and value patterns as measured by the Survey of Interpersonal Values (Gordon, 1960), the Study of Values (Allport, et al., 1951), and Cancer Attitude Survey (Haley, et al., 1968) were explored by comparing test (1966) and retest (1970) results from medical students who scored high or low on Dogmatism Scale, Form E (Rokeach, 1960) in 1966. Significant decreases in dogmatism scores obtained in 1970 necessitated a second comparison between those whose scores remained stable within the initially defined high and low ranges. While the over-all value patterns of the high- and low-dogmatic groups differed, the differences found in 1970 were less extensive than those found in 1966. Comparisons of stable-high and stable-low dogmatic groups yielded significant differences in the mean scores of several of the value variables, and marked differences in value patterns.