Early Maladaptive Schemas in Medical Students and Law Students

Abstract

Career choice is an important stage in the life of young people. It has been previously reported that career choice may be related to psychological factors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship of early maladaptive schemas with university selection. A total of 135 medical students and 98 law students participated in the study. Sociodemographic data form and Young Schema Questionnarie short form-3 were given to the participants. According to our findings, dependence/incompetence (p = 0.027) and subjugation (p = 0.013) scores were significantly higher in medical school students. The self-punitiveness score was found to be higher (p= 0.032) in law faculty students. In addition, medical faculty students had significantly higher scores (p=0.043) in the impaired autonomy and performance schema domain scores. According to our findings, early maladaptive schemas scores of university students differ according to their departments. These findings may be useful in career selection and higher education programs guidance process.