Learn More About The MBTI
We chose to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) to assess individual learning styles. MBTI is the mostly widely used and considered the most statistically valid individual assessment tool. Because of this, we are able to draw from an already large existing body of primary research on MBTI and learning styles for the analysis stage of this study.
Our use of the MBTI for this research is a creative approach. Most practitioners use MBTI to help individuals and groups explore issues of group dynamics such as team communications or leadership development. The MBTI assessment also reflects learning styles by asking questions designed to illuminate how individuals prefer to:
- Direct their energy
- Take information in
- Process information in order to draw conclusions
- Express their conclusions in the external world
Discovery about the how we process information and make decisions can shed light on how we seek to understand complex issues. Of course, everyone uses all of the attitudes and processes assessed by MBTI at various times. Research has shown that our genetic gifts and human living experiences influence the development for certain preferences for perceiving and processing information. These preferences can also be viewed as elements of one’s learning styles because every decision we make is a choice which is influenced by our preferences for thinking, understanding and self-expression. A very simple example of this phenomena is that when we hear a phone ring , we quickly process that audio perception to mean that we have several choices about how we might respond. If we encounter a situation we have never encountered before, we draw on both our mental processes which include memory to determine a course of action. As situations become more complex, learning style influences the choices we are likely to consider and the actions we take as a result.
The table below* provides additional detail on each of the eight dichotomies that make up your four-letter MBTI result. The eight dichotomies combine to represent 16 possible “types” or MBTI results. That fact that your assessment yielded a specific four-letter MBTI type does not imply that you never use the other dichotomies; i
t simply reflects which dichotomies for which you have the strongest preferences.
About The MBTI Associated With This Study
In the course of conducting this study, we are using MBTI Form M. The MBTI Step II and the MBTI Interpretive Report provides more precise results about the strength of each dichotomy and the specific qualities that contribute to each dichotomy. If you wish to learn more about your MBTI type, please contact us via email.
We wish to acknowledge that all theoretical models and assessments have some limitations. We have tried to be thorough in both the design and use of the MBTI in our research. We also acknowledge that there are several other well-respected alternative models for learning style. Further, it is our hypothesis that learning style is but only one of several determinants contributing to one’s preference for an understanding complex problems. Nevertheless, we hope our research will be a valuable component in discovering how we can better teach and learn effective approaches to understanding complex problems.
Acknowledgments: We wish to thank the Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT), the official certification body for administering the MBTI, for their support of this project .
*Adapted from MBTI Manual, 3rd ed. (c) 1998, 2003. Briggs Myers, McCauley, Quenk, Hammer, CPP Inc.
