The Role of Personality Temperament and Student Learning ...

The Role of Personality Temperament and Student Learning in Principles of Economics: Further Evidence Author(s): Andrea L. Ziegert Source: The Journal of Economic Education, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 307-322 Published by: Heldref Publications Stable URL: Accessed: 12/05/2009 11:55 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@.

Heldref Publications is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Economic Education.



Research in Economic Education

In this section,theJournalof EconomicEducationpublishesoriginaltheoreticalandempiricalstudiesof economiceducationdealingwiththe analysis and evaluationof teachingmethods,learning,attitudesand interests, materials,or processes.

PETER KENNEDY, Section Editor

The Role of and Student Economics:

Personality Temperament

Learning in Principles of

Further

Evidence

AndreaL.Ziegert

Understandingeconomicsis a processof gatheringinformation,makingsense

of information,buildingconceptualmodels, and using these models to evaluate

and analyze differentsituationsand alternatives.Jungianpsychological theory suggests that differentpersonalitytemperamentspreferto receive and process informationdifferently.My hypothesisis thatpersonalitytype plays an important role in a student'sunderstandingof economics, as measuredby standard measures of student performance.More precisely, given the more analytical natureof economics, some personalitytypes may succeed in economics more

readilythando others.Furthermoref,acultypersonalitytype is also importantin determiningthe way in which economic conceptsarepresented.Thusif students and faculty have the same personalitytype, they are more likely to receive and process informationin a similar fashion, which may lead to increasedperformancein economics courses.Understandingthe ways in which differentpersonality temperamentsgatherand process informationcan lead to more effective pedagogies thatwill benefit all economics students.

Borg and Shapiro(1996) found that studentpersonalitytype is an important determinantof studentperformancein economics. In this article,I improveand extendtheirworkin two importantways. I replicateBorg andShapiro'sanalysis with a largersampleof studentsanda larger,morediversegroupof faculty.I also

Andrea L. Ziegert is an associate professor of economics at Denison University (e-mail: Ziegert@Denison.edu).The author wishes to thankmembersof Miami University'sDepartmentof Economicsfor theirparticipationin thisprojectand Dennis H. Sullivanand anonymousrefereesfor their helpful comments.

Fall 2000

307

investigatethe role of personalitytype on both a student'sknowledge of economics (stock) and on learningin an economics course (flow) using alternative measuresof studentperformancein economics.

PERSONALITY TEMPERAMENTS AND LEARNING

Preference Scales

Therole of personalitytypein learningwas developedby C. G. Jungandmade operationalby Isabel Briggs Myers and KatherineBriggs in the well-known Myers-Briggs(personality)TypeIndicator(MBTI)(Myers 1975).Althoughonly Borg and Shapiro(1996) have appliedthis informationto economics coursesin particularc, onsiderableresearchhas used the MBTI to examinethe role of personality in learningin general.In addition,the MBTI is frequentlystudiedand used in businesssettingsto improveteamworkandworkerproductivityB. ecause manyeconomists are unawareof this research,a brief discussionof personality types andlearningin an economics classroomis in order.

MyersandBriggs classifiedall mentalactivityaccordingto fourdichotomous preference scales: Introversion(I)-Extraversion (E), Sensing (S)-Intuitive (N), Thinking(T)-Feeling (F), andJudging(J)-Perceiving (P).Thepreference scales identify and describean individual'spreferencesfor relatingto the world (I-E), processinginformation(S-N), makingdecisions (T-F), and lifestyle and time orientation(J-P). Each scale is a continuum:An individualcan exhibitdifferent degrees of these personalitytraits.In addition,the more a person reinforces a particularpreference,or that preferenceis reinforcedby teachersand otherinfluentialindividuals,the strongerthose characteristicswill be in the person's personality.Eachindividualcan be describedby his or herpersonalitytemperamentor type, which is composed of one preferencefrom each of the four preferencescales.

Introversion (I)-Extraversion (E)

The most misunderstoodof the preferencescales, introversion-extraversion does not describean individualas eithera wallfloweror the life of the party.This preferencescale refersto the focus of one's attentionor sourceof energy.Individuals with a preferencefor extraversion (E) are "outwardturning"and are energizedby the worldoutsideof themselves.They aresociable,actionoriented, risk takers,and have a wide varietyof interests.In the classroom,extravertstu-

dentsrespondquicklyto questionsandoften need to talk out loud to know what they think.Extravertscan handlemultiplestimuli withoutlosing focus and generally prefer talking ratherthan writing as a method of communication.They havea wide varietyof interests.About75 percentof the U.S. populationareestimatedto be extraverts,and the remaining25 percentare introverts.

On the otherhand,individualswho preferintroversion(I) are inwardturning

and find the source of theirenergy in the innerlife of ideas and concepts.They

areprivate,reflective,andoften exhibita depthratherthana breadthof interests.

308

JOURNALOF ECONOMICEDUCATION

In the classroom, studentswith this personalitypreferenceneed time to get to

know theirinstructorsand classmates;they need time for reflection before dis-

cussion andpreferone-to-oneratherthangroupactivities.If introvertsare silent

in class, it does not necessarilymean they are uninterested,butratherthey need

time to reflect upon the informationand place it in context before discussing it with other students.Introvertswill often express an opinion only when asked. Introvertspreferwritingratherthantalkingas a mode of communication.

At the end of the teachingday, an extravertedprofessoris likely to be wound upandenergizedby teaching.He or she often hasdifficultyunwindingandwants to talk aboutand process what happenedin the classroom.A professorwith a preferencefor introversion,althoughoften energeticin the classroom,is drained at the end of the day. Bringing out the connections in the classroom is often exhausting,andanintrovertedprofessorneeds solitudeto reenergizeandprocess whathappenedin class. Researchsuggeststhatnationwide,introvertsoutnumber extravertson college anduniversityfaculties(CenterforApplicationof Psychological Type 1993). This may partiallyexplain the prevalenceof passive rather than active pedagogies in college classrooms, as professors teach in a manner more consistent with their own personalitypreferencesor, perhaps,their own

experiencesas students.

Sensing (S)--Intuitive (N)

The sensing-intuitivepreferencescale refersto the way in which an individual takesin information.Approximately75 percentof the U.S. populationprefer sensing (S) and the remainderare intuitive(N). A sensing individualtruststhe data and informationthatcomes from the five senses. These studentsfocus on

details andspecifics, often worksequentially,preferexperience-rootedlearning, and have a practicaland presentorientation.In economics, these studentsmay focus on replicatinggraphsdrawnon the boardwithoutunderstandingthe underlying concepts(i.e., they know thatMC crossesATCat a minimum,but they do not know why).

Intuitivespreferto takein informationthroughintuitionor hunches.They like the "bigpicture,"focusing on patternsandconceptsfirst,ratherthendetail.They learn from insight and enjoy learning new skills. These students like solving problems,enjoychange,andareoften innovativein theirthinking,althoughthey mayfrequentlymakeerrorsof fact. Studentswithanintuitivepreferencearelikely to get boredwitha professorwho reviewsproblemsin class thatillustrategeneral concepts using details because they find such activities obvious and repetitive.

In the classroom,a sensing professormay ask studentsfor specific examples of economic phenomena(when you go to the store, how do you decide whatto buy?)andthendevelopa conceptor theoryin termsof a concreteexampleorstu-

dentexperience.Ontheotherhand,an intuitiveprofessorwill oftenpresenta the-

ory or conceptfirstand may be frustratedwhen some studentsfail to see its rel-

evance or generalizationto specific facts or circumstances.

Fall2000

309

Thinking (T)-Feeling (F)

Thinking does not imply intelligence nor does feeling imply emotion. This preferencescale describes ways in which individualsevaluateinformationand make decisions. Thinking-feeling preferences are evenly divided among the overall population:50 percentare thinking(T) and 50 percentare feeling (F). Thinkers tend to make decisions impersonally,making objective judgments, which emphasizeanalysisandplace a high valueon fairness.Emotionsandfeelings are importantto thinkersbut are valuedas only one of manyaspects to be considered in the decision. In the classroom, thinkers love competition and debate and try to sway othersto theirposition.The feeling personmakes decisions on the basis of personalvalues andplaces a high value on harmony.Their decisionmakingstyle is subjectiveand empathic.They like to give and receive affirmationT. heydo not like debatebutprefercollaborationto competitionin the classroom.'Feeling studentslearnbest once they havedevelopeda relationship with boththeirinstructorand studentcolleagues.

Thinking versus feeling professors differ most in their approachto student evaluation.Thinkersarelikely to havethe gradedistributionfor thecourseon the syllabus on the first day of class. With few exceptions, applyingthis pre-determined distributioneasily sets grades.A feeling professor,on the otherhand,is morelikely to give moreweightto individualstudentgrowthandcircumstances. Potential differences in studentevaluationby thinking and feeling professors may raisea new issue of fairness.If whenevaluatingstudentperformancea, feeling professorplaces moreemphasison the amountof studentlearningduringthe term(value added)ratherthanperformancerelativeto fixed learningobjectives, then studentsmust understandthe rules for gradingor the assessmentmay be both inaccurateandunfair.

The thinking-feelingpreferencescale is uniqueamongthe personalitypreferences. It is the only preferencescale thathas significantdifferencesin the distributionof preferencesamong men and women.Approximately60 to 65 percent of womentestedwere classifiedas feeling, whereas60 to 65 percentof mentested were thinking(Centerfor Applicationof PsychologicalType 1993).2

Judging (J)-Perceiving (P)

The final preferencescale,judging-perceiving,indicatespreferencesin relating to the outer world: an individual'sneed for order,closure, openness and adaptabilityT. his preferencescale is evenlydistributedamongthe population:50 percentof the populationare classified as perceiving(P) and the remainderare judging (J). Judging individualspreferan orderlyand structuredenvironment. They are goal orientedand often have detailedplans for achievingtheirgoals. When a decision is needed,they areoften anxiousuntila decisionis made-they seek closure.In the classroom,these studentsoften completepapersandassignments before theirdue dates and are very organizedin theirstudying.They are

often upset,however,if scheduledtests or assignmentdeadlinesarechanged.

Perceiving individualsprefera spontaneousand flexible environment.They

310

JOURNALOFECONOMIECDUCATION

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download