A Problem of Personality: Scientist and Practitioner Differences in Psychology Peter Zachar Frederick T. L. Leong Southern Illinois University Ohio State University ABSTRACT Differences between scientists and practitioners have been one of the most consistent and controversial topics throughout the history of Ameri- can psychology. Even though tnany qualitative arguments and indirect quan- titative studies have been offered in the literature, scientist and practitioner personality perspectives have never been tneasured directly. We have done so in this study, and we argue that these differences can be conceptualized within a personality framework. Results of our study demonstrate that interest in sci- entist activities and interest in practitioner activities were both predicted by theoretical orientations and vocational personality styles. Scientist and prac- titioner interests were predicted by these variables in opposite directions. We conclude by noting that while the conflict between scientist and practitioner personality styles is often said to be solvable by appropriate education, training models provide only partial solutions. It would be useful for training models to examine the role of personality differences in scientist-practitioner orientations in order to design realistic progratns and objectives. The nature of the discord between scientists and practitioners has been debated throughout the history of American psychology. The preferred work settings of some psychologists consist of secluded research labs full of a complex array of equipment such as surgical tools and banks of amplifiers. Other psychologists' preferred work settings are intimate therapy rooms each containing two chairs and a tape recorder. Vast The authors would like to thank Steven Cercy for reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this article. Peter Zachar is currently an Intern in the Counseling Center at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Frederick Leong, Ohio State University, Department of Psychology, 142 Townshend Hall, 1885 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1222. Journal of Personality 60:3, September 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Duke University Press. CCC 0022-3506/92/$!.50