TRANSCRIPT: How Your Personality Style May Impact Your Academic Success
Speaker: Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire
How Your Personality Style May Impact Your Academic Success
[host, Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire, on the left]
Text on screen: Retired Asst. Vice Chancellor & Professor of Chemistry
Text on screen: Director Emerita, Center for Academic Success
Text on screen: Helping students learn efficient & effective learning strategies
Text on screen: Helping faculty learn those same strategies.
[multicolored graphic with brain icon inside, surrounded by pie chart icon, light bulb icon, brain icon, heart icon, gavel icon, eye icon, and head icons]
Hello. I'm Dr. Sandra Yancy McGuire, a retired chemistry professor and past director of the Center for Academic Success, the University Learning Center at Louisiana State University.
I retired about three years ago to devote full-time to my passion, which is helping students develop more efficient learning strategies, and also, I was working with faculty, teaching them the strategies so that they can work with their students.
In this session, we're going to be talking about a topic that I think is very important to making sure that you learn most efficiently. That is, how your personality may impact the learning strategies you use and how successful those learning strategies are.
Personality Types & Inventory
[host on the left]
Text on screen: Personality Types by Carl Jung
Text on screen: Seemingly random variation in people’s behavior is actually pretty consistent and predictable based on personality type
Text on screen: Meyers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Meyers
Text on screen: Categorizes people on basic preferences based on Jung’s personality types.
Text on screen: Better understand ourselves & better communicate with others!
We're going to be talking about the personality types as described by the work of a Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung, and the inventory that was developed by Catherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Myers. The essence of Jung's theory is that a lot of behavior that seems to be random is really, actually quite predictable based on personality type. The Myers-Brigg Personality Type Indicator categorizes people according to their basic preferences on each of the four dichotomies in Jung's theory. This is really, really important because understanding personality types can help us better understand ourselves and it can help us better communicate more effectively with others.
Controversial or Beneficial
[host on the right]
[red thumb down icon and green thumb up icon]
Text on screen: Do personality types have merit?
• Better understand yourself
• Better understand others
• Do not use to stereotype
• Provide insight into behaviors.
Text on screen: Take the questionnaire now!
Although I think that knowing your personality type and that of your peers is very, very helpful, I want to point out that there's a lot of controversy about whether or not personality types are just a meaningless fad, or whether they actually provide very useful information about how people behave. I found that this information is quite useful to me when I interact with peers. Most of my students have told me that when they find out this information, they actually better understand themselves and the people they're working with. I do want to emphasis, though, that there's no inventory, or no type indicator, that should ever be used to stereotype yourself or others. Rather, it should be used to provide insight into behavior, your own behavior and the behavior of your peers.
Before we discuss the styles and details, I'd like for you to take an MBTI, a Myers-Brigg Type Indicator questionnaire, that will help you determine your preferences. After you've completed the questionnaire, click next to continue.
Questionnaire
[paper and pencil icon]
Text on screen: Complete the questionnaire now
Text on screen: Be sure to write down your four letters
The questionnaire you're going to complete will take about ten minutes. It will provide you with results related to the 16 different personality types. After you complete the assessment, write down your four letters and return to the workshop. I will then explain, in detail, what the different letters represent, and how your letters can be used to guide your learning and study strategies.
Your Results
[Host on right]
Text on screen: Meyers Briggs Type Inventory (or MBTI) categorizes people according to their basic preferences of each of the four dichotomies in Jung’s theory.
Text on screen: E/I [head icons, one with arrows going out, one with arrows going in] Text on screen: S/I [pie chart icon and light bulb icon]
Text on screen: T/F [brain icon and heart icon] Text on screen: J/P [gavel icon and eye icon]
Text on screen: Extravert vs Introvert [head icons, one with arrows going out, one with arrows going in]
Text on screen: Where people get their energy
• E - gain energy from interacting with other people, external
• I – interaction with people is a drain, introspective
[group of people icon] [filling battery icon] [Person reading book icon] [battery draining icon]
Text on screen: Sensing vs Intuitive [pie chart icon and light bulb icon]
Text on screen: How people like to get their information.
• S – want to see the data/facts
• I – use their intuition [paper and magnifying glass icon] [light bulb in speech bubble icon]
Text on screen: Thinking vs Feeling [brain icon and heart icon]
Text on screen: How people make decisions
• T – objective & follow rules
• F – might alter or bend the rules based on circumstances [green up arrow]
[green arrow with red arrow diverging]
Text on screen: Judging vs Perciving [gavel icon and eye icon] Text on screen: How people structure their lives
• J – get things done, to-do lists, get tasks done
• P – what is involved in the task, look at options [pencil and check marks icon]
[figure with four directional arrows]
Now that you've taken the inventory, you should have a set of four letters that indicate where you stand on each of the four dichotomies that Jung identified and that Myers- Briggs developed the instrument to test. Those four dichotomies are: extrovert vs. introvert, sensing vs. intuitive, thinking vs. feeling and judging vs. perceiving. Let's take a little bit closer look at what each of those dichotomies means.
If we look at the extrovert-introvert scale, the extroverts are people who enjoy interacting with other people. They seem to get energy from the interaction with other people. Whereas, introverts, on the other hand, can interact very well with others, but it takes a lot of energy for them to do this. They are the folks who are very introspective. They seem to really enjoy spending time alone. The introvert-extrovert scale really has to do with where we get our energy from, whether it's external from others, or whether we have to give out energy when we interact with others, only to regain that when we are alone by ourselves.
The sensing vs. intuitive dichotomy has to do with how people like to get information. The sensors are people who want to see the data. They want to see what the facts say. They will make their decisions based on the facts. However, people who are intuitors, they use their intuition a lot. They say, "Well, this is what the data says, but I think I should do it this way. I just have a feeling that I should do this instead of just rely on the data."
Then, when we look at the thinking vs. feeling dichotomy, it has to do with the information that people use to make decisions. The thinkers are the people who are very objective. If there are a set of rules, then they want to follow the rules and make decisions based on that. Whereas, people who are feelers know what the rules are, but they recognize that we might need to bend the rules a little bit based on individual circumstances.
The judging and perceiving scale has to do with how people structure their lives. The judgers are people who like to get things done, check off lists. They are more focused on completing tasks. Whereas, the perceivers are more focused on looking at what exactly is involved in the task. They might want to think about, "Well, how can I do this differently?" Their goal isn't as much to get it finished, as to make sure they looked at all different aspects of the particular job.
Learning Strategies For Extraverts vs Introverts
[Host on left]
[pie chart icon, light bulb icon, brain icon, heart icon, gavel icon, eye icon, and head icons, one with arrows going out, one with arrows going in]
[head icons, one with arrows going out, one with arrows going in]
[gavel icon, eye icon]
[head icon with arrows going out] Text on screen: Extraverts Text on screen:
• Thinking out loud
• Discuss ideas with others
• Teach others
• Form study groups
[ear icon] [to figures talking icon] [teacher icon] [3 figures at a table] [head icon with arrows going out] Text on screen: Introverts
Text on screen:
• Take independent study courses
• Study groups with other introverts
• Study in quiet places
[icon of person teaching] [3 figures at a table] [person reading a book icon]
Of the four dichotomies--and you've got a letter for each one of your dichotomies--I actually find that there are two that are very, very helpful when we're looking at learning strategies. And that is whether or not you're an extravert or an introvert, or whether or not you are on the judging scale or the perceiving scale.
What I'm going to do now is talk about the learning strategies that work best for individuals in each of those two dichotomies. I'm going to start with extroverts. As we said, remember, extroverts are typically the life of the party. They love interacting with people. Some of the learning strategies that are very effective for extroverts include just thinking out loud, even if you're in a room by yourself. Just verbalize it. Talk out loud. Or, you can discuss ideas with other people and you'll find that, that's going to energize you. You may even think of other ideas that you want to consider. Or, the strategy of teaching others information is very, very helpful with extroverts because then you have that other person that you're going to interact with. Of course, forming study groups of other extroverts or not just extroverts, but study groups that include both extroverts and introverts would be very useful. Remember, that you have to make time so that the introverts in the group will have a space to contribute, or otherwise, the extroverts are going to take up all of the energy and effort in the group.
Now, if you're an introvert, there are learning strategies that work very well for you. One would be if you could take independent study courses. Introverts love independent study courses because they're able to do so much work on their own, by themselves.
They can reflect. It really is useful for them. You can engage in study groups, because study groups are very helpful. It might help for you to form study groups with other introverts. That way, you know that there are others who also would like to spend time thinking before they speak. That's the other important difference between extroverts and introverts. Extroverts typically think while they're talking. Introverts like to think first before they speak.
If you're in a group of introverts, you might say, "Well, let's take about five minutes and we'll just think about this. Then, in five minutes we'll come back and we'll discuss our ideas about our thoughts." That works very well in a study group with introverts. Another thing, of course, would be to study in very quiet places where there are not a lot of people around, because if there are people around, even if they're not interacting with you, you might find that, that's going to suck some of the energy out of the room.
Studying in quiet places, alone, works very well for introverts.
Learning Strategies for Judgers vs Perceivers
[Host on left]
[gavel icon, eye icon]
[gavel icon] Text on screen: Judgers Text on screen:
• Keep your environment structured
• Keep an open mind
• Come back to a task to review/improve
[flowchart icon] [icon of head with arrows] [magnifying glass & papers icon] [eye icon] Text on screen: Perceivers
Text on screen:
• Set deadlines and stick to them
• Don’t procrastinate
• Live with imperfection
• Do the best you can
[calendar icon] [hourglass icon] [podium icon] [icon of thumbs up]
Now let's talk about the different learning strategies that work very well for judgers vs. perceivers. I do want to point out that the term "judger" is not at all to imply that these people are judgmental. That's not what it's about at all. It just refers to how they like to structure their environment and what their major focus is. We said that judgers are people who want to get it done. They want to check it off and be on to the next task. If you are a judger, then you want to make sure that you keep your environment very well structured. For J folks, they like to know exactly what task is coming up next. If they have a very orderly arrangement, it is very, very helpful for them.
Whereas, perceivers, we could have a messy desk, a messy room. It doesn't really impact us. Also, it's important for judgers to try to keep an open mind. Recognize that your task is to get a job completed. You might not be looking at all of the different ways that you could improve on it. Just keep an open mind and recognize that there are other ways of looking at things, other angles that might be considered. Also, it's important to come back to a task that you completed. Even though you think it's done, you checked it off, if you come back to it later you may see that, "Ah! There's a way that I can improve this." The work that you turn in will be better as a result of that.
If you are a perceiver, then it's very important to recognize that you have a tendency to say, "Well, no. This isn't quite finished yet. I need to see how I can make it better." It's very important to set deadlines, many deadlines, for yourself and make sure you stick to them. If you have a term paper, then say, "I'm going to be finished with the outline by a certain date. I'm going to be finished with the introduction by a certain date." Make sure that you stick with those deadlines. Try not to procrastinate. It is very common that perceivers procrastinate because they're always thinking about, "What can I do to make this better? I can't start on the project now because there may be another way I can look at it that would make it better." Try not to procrastinate by setting a firm deadline by which you need to have a task finished. Also, remember that nothing is ever going to be perfect. You have to learn to live with imperfections. Get it as good as you can within the timeline that you've set for yourself. Then, once that time is up, then say it's completed and it will be fine.
Activity
[Host on left]
[icon of paper and pencil]
[head icon with arrows going out] [head icon with arrows going in] Text on screen: Are you an Extrovert or an Introvert?
• What strategies would work best for you? [gavel icon] [eye icon]
Text on screen: Are you an Judger or a Perciever?
• What strategies would work best for you?
Now, I hope that you have learned a little bit about yourself and maybe something about people that you work with. Right now, I'd like for us to do an activity and reflect on the learning strategies that we talked about that were effective for extroverts, the ones that were effective for introverts, and just identify if you were an extrovert, what were some of the strategies we talked about that you think would work particularly well with you. If you are in introvert, what were some of the strategies that you thought would work particularly well with you.
Also, I'd like for you to do the same thing on the J & P scale, so that when you have completed this task, you will have at least two or three learning strategies that will work very well with your particular personality type.
Group Work – Example 1
[host on the right]
[icon of three figures around a table]
[icon of person finishing a race] [Icon of diverging arrows]
Text on screen: Problem
• Just want to get the task done – Probably a Judger [alarm clock icon] [magnifying glass and paper icon]
[Trophy icon]
Text on screen: Strategies
• Ask to spend time on one additional aspect
Now that we've learned a little bit more about our personalities, and hopefully, this is useful as you think about your friends and their behavior. It helps you to understand them a little bit better. I want to spend a little bit of time talking about what this means for group work. I want to give you two scenarios and ask if you've ever had this experience. Have you ever worked with someone, either just the two of you or in a group, where it was obvious that they just wanted to get the task done and turn in the work, but you recognized that, "Well, no. We've only considered two parts of the components here. If we consider two or three more, then the work is going to be much, much better." They didn't want to spend the time to improve the product. What that means is that they were very much J and you're very much P.
In a situation like that, I think it's important for you to understand it so you're not going to get frustrated. Just indicate to them that, "Maybe what we can do is just spend a little more time coming up with just one additional aspect." You can kind of move them to the area that they're going to be able to produce work in the group that's a little bit better than it would have been had you turned it in when they wanted to turn it in.
Group Work – Example 2
[host on the left]
[icon of three figures around a table] [icon of person using a megaphone]
[Icon of people high-fiving] [Icon of multicolored hands] Text on screen: Problem
• Someone is doing all the talking – probably your Extroverts
• Need input from Introverts
• Want benefit of all of the members [icon of one person with arrows leading to others] [Icon of people in a circle]
Text on screen: Strategies
• Assign a moderator
• Can only speak once until all members have had a chance
Now, let's talk about another group situation that you may be familiar with. Have you ever been in a group where there were maybe four or five people in the group and one or two people seem to want to hog all of the discussion? There were maybe another one or two people who said almost nothing during the group work. You can pretty much bet that the people who were doing all the talking were extroverts. Remember, we said that extroverts really think while they're speaking. Whereas, introverts want to think before they speak. The introverts are not going to jump into a conversation. The problem with that, of course, is that the extroverts are going to hog all of the time. The group won't get the benefit of the input from the introverts because they're waiting for a time to jump in.
A group in that situation is not going to have the benefit of all of its members. A strategy to use in that case, you might identify one person who is going to be, essentially, the moderator. That person, their task is to make sure that everyone has a chance to give input. There may be a rule that one person can't give a second bit of input until everyone has given their first bit of input. That way, you're going to be assured that the group is going to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of all of its members.
Summary
[host on right]
[icon of three figures around a table] [lock icon with slash through it]
[icon of person with idea] [paper icon] [briefcase icon]
Text on Screen: Personality types
• Learned various strategies for yourself & group work
• Not hard fast characteristics
• Guide to predicting behavior
• Useful in academic setting & workplace
I hope you've learned quite a bit about how your personality can affect your academic success and about how your personality will determine how effective you are in working with your peers in groups. Now, I want you to remember, though, that personality types are not hard, fast, unchangeable characteristics. They are things that may be very helpful as you go forth working with other people, not just in an academic setting, but in your careers and in the rest of your life.