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Minority group differences in the background, personality, and performance of navy paramedical personnel
Author(s) -
Booth Richard F.,
Berry Newell H.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(197801)6:1<60::aid-jcop2290060114>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - aptitude , technician , psychology , navy , personality , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , archaeology , electrical engineering , history , engineering
Abstract A comparison of 1091 black persons, 192 Hispanic persons, 186 Asian persons, and a random sample of 1785 white persons who entered Navy Hospital Corpsman and Dental Technician training revealed significant between‐group differences on a number of aptitude, background, and personality measures. When participants in this research were divided into those individuals who had been fully qualified for paramedical training (high aptitude), those who had been only marginally qualified for training (medimum aptitude), and those who had been accepted for training despite the fact that they had not been qualified (low aptitude), between‐group comparisons revealed that minority group members at the low and medium aptitude levels tended to perform better, both in training and on the job, than did the whites at comparable aptitude levels. The performance of individuals with high aptitude test scores was not related to minority group status. These findings suggest that consideration should be given to minority group membership in screening candidates for these paramedical jobs and that affirmative action programs, at least when they are evaluated in terms of training performance and job turnover, can produce significant benefits for the individuals concerned and for the organization.