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I. Introduction Have you ever wondered why you loved history while your
friend hated it, felt inspired by one
particular faculty member while your classmates thought she was boring?
Have you ever been uncomfortable at a party while others seem to be
having a wonderful time? Do you ever wonder why others miss deadlines
and never seem to have things organized? All of these are connected to
our personality type and our preferred way of doing and viewing things.
Try this experiment. Hold your arms out as wide apart
as you can. Bring them together and clasp your hands together like you
would when you clap following a concert. Look at which thumb is on top.
Is it your right or left thumb? Now do the same thing, but this time
change thumbs so that the other one is on top. It usually feels awkward,
even uncomfortable. Do it again with your favorite thumb on top. If you
clasped your hands together thousands of times you would probably place
your favorite thumb on top every time. This is what we call a preferred
way of acting.
We have the same kind of personal preferences in our
learning styles. When we are in a classroom environment that matches our
learning style, everything feels right. The professor is stimulating,
the material exciting, the work enjoyable. But if the environment does
not match our preferred learning style, we feel out of place,
uncomfortable, and unable to do our best.
There are no right or wrong, good or bad learning
styles, just preferred styles. Understanding learning styles and
personality preferences has helped students succeed in
class and out. It provides an important dimension of self-discovery and
personal growth.
II. Background to Myers-Briggs
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator developed out of
efforts by Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs to understand the
differences and similarities in human personalities. It is based on the
psychological theory of Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, who argued in
the 1920s that personality traits are inherited or innate. Myers and
Briggs used Jung's theory to develop a list of four ranges of
personality traits (Introvert-Extrovert [I-E], Sensing-Intuitive [S-N],
Thinking-Feeling [T-F], Perceiving-Judging [P-J] and numerous
combinations. They refined their definitions over and over again during
the 1940s and 1950s by administering thousands of assessments. Today
their personality assessment instrument is more widely used by educators
in the US than any other. It is not like other psychological tests in
that it does not uncover illness or psychosis. It was designed to help
normal people understand normal human behavior.
III. Myers-Briggs
and the College Student
We have found that the MBTI can help students understand and appreciate diversity, read their instructors better,
manage their studies more wisely, develop sounder relationships, and
plan majors and careers more realistically. Myers-Briggs does not define
individuals, it simply tell us general things about ourselves, like a
zip code tells us what part of the country we live in but not the exact
street or house number. Each person is different and unique even though
we may share many preferences. Knowing what we have in common with
others, how we differ, and what is unique about ourselves can be both
empowering and critical to our success in college and beyond.
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