Editorial Board

A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management

A Study of Identification of Personality Profiles of Undergraduate Management Students Using Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Test

Author

Kirti Makwana Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Indukaka Ipcowala Institute of Management (I2IM) Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa, Gujarat, India

Prof. (Dr.) Govind B Dave Dean, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Principal, Indukaka Ipcowala Institute of Management (I2IM) Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Various psychological tools are being used across world, to define different personality traits of employees across industries. The researchers did the in-depth study of personality using Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). One hundred and forty nine (149) undergraduate students of a B – School were chosen. A comparative study of personality profiles for defined demographic variables were carried out. Dominant MBTI types found in this research are ESFJ (23.5%) and ESTJ (16.1%). However, ISTP (0.7%) and INTP (1.3%) are the least observed personality types. Association was found between gender and Extraversion and Introversion. No association found between gender and other personality dimensions (S | N, T | F and J | P).

Personality Assessment,Management Education, Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Introduction

Personality is one of the most significant assets of an individual which helps in identifying the limits of success, happiness and fulfilment in our life. “Personality” is the most commonly and widely used word but difficult to define. The word “Personality” is originated from a Latin term“Persona”. “Persona” means a mask, used by actors during a play. Personality can also referred as the outward appearance or the face displayed to the public around. Personality is one’s external and noticeable traits. It is an impression made on others. As defined by Hall, Lindzey and Campbell 1998, it is the “typical characteristic or quality of a subject, which is apparently asignificant part of the over-all impression formed in others”. Personality of an individual include many factors, which are as mentioned below: (Hilgard, Atkinson & Atkinson, 1975)

Recent developments in the field of Personality Psychology propose that human can be categorised in relation to their dispositional characteristics. This information can be used for employee selection, training and development and major HR functions. Literatures suggest that, there is a positive relationship between personality and occupational performance of an individual. Personalities and intellectual styles might support illuminate some of the inconsistency among management students. There is an increased trend of interest in understanding the role of personality types in various work situations. This will allow both an individual and the organisation to benefit from strength and to improve in the corresponding areas so as to improve performance at work-place. Management education’s thrust is to provide more industry required skills through classroom environment which requires individual to apply his/ her critical, analytical and communication skills (to name a few). In today’s situation, one finds hard to assume learning without building relationship between personality type, and actual performance at workplace. Across world, one of the most extensively used tool to evaluate the personality type of an individual is Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (Myers and McCaulley, 1985). According to literature, the performance and the outcome of a student can be determined by on many factors; personality types are one of the factors. (Sahinidis et al., 2003). It is essential to address personality related issues / concerns by the educational institutions as the students are the backbone of the growth of the nation. Educators can undertake Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument to better get ready budding managers by means of required abilities, knowledge and abilities to meet the requirements of the current industry requirements.

Objectives

The research paper attains the following objectives:
•	To explore various personality types among under graduate students of Business Administration.

•	To identify whether the personality preferences and profiles varies by gender, religion, medium of instruction, area of specialization and family income.

Hypotheses of the Study

•	There is no significant relationship between personality types and gender.
•	There is no significant relationship between personality types and medium of instruction of schooling.

Literature Review

Each and every human on this earth is different. The way one interacts with other, nature, thinking, and behaviour differ from individual to individual. Carl Jung (1875- 1961) classified mental activities in processes. Jungian personality tool comprises attitude scales which captures traits such as introversion, extraversion, adaptability, breadth and depth of interests, feeling, intuition and organisation. Jang (1921) defined that the individual personality analyses individual as a whole or a collection of characteristics. According to Jangian theory, there are eight personality traits. These eight qualities comprise of two bipolar pairs of metal functions and attitudes. All individuals have all eight characteristics, however, one trait is dominated in each bipolar pairs. The four dominated traits act together and describe an individual’s personality type. The first two processes categorising the way an individual perceives information. S – Sensing practice to observe the information by the approach of the senses. N- Intuition refers to the process of recognising meaning, possibilities and associations using insights. Next two processes classifies the way one makes decisions. These are Thinking – T, which refers to being logical, objective decision making and Feeling – F, which refers to making judgements based on subjective system and personal values. Jung added the other dimension as Extraversion – E referring to being outward and Introversion – I being inward-turning. Jung (1921) originally defined only three bipolar dimensions. Myers and Briggs, furtherexpanded the forth bipolar dimensions i.e JP, which doubled the number of possible personality types to Sixteen (16). This fourth dimension describes the attitude of and individual towards outer world. JP defines the approach of an individual towards the outer world. Judging – J describes a person as planned, ordered, organised and well managed, while Perceiving – P individuals keep things flexible and are adaptable to change.

Perceives information. S – Sensing

Data Analysis

Table – 1 – Personality Type (Frequency and Percentage)

Type	Frequency	Percent	Type	Frequency	Percent
E	107	71.8	S	102	68.5
I	42	28.2	N	47	31.5

Type	Frequency	Percent	Type	Frequency	Percent
T	61	40.9	J	113	75.8
F	88	59.1	P	36	24.2

Table – 1 shows Personality Types of individuals. Out of 149 respondents 107 respondents had Extraversion (E) while 42 respondents had Introversion (I) type personality. From the above results it can be seen that, 16 MBTI personality types, where the majority of students are extrovert; approximately 71.8%. These students like to spend time with people and feel less comfortable when they are alone. They enjoy socializing and they are enthusiastic, positive and energetic in speaking. There are 28.2% introverted students. These students who prefer to work in an activity that is individual rather than social interaction. There are more Sensing (S) 68.5% than Intuitive (N) 31.5% personalities among this group. Sensing (S) people emphasis on the current and actual evidences gained from five senses, whereas, Intuitive (N) group trusts on six senses and they focus on future, patterns and possibilities. Most (59.1%) of the respondents are Feeling (F) personalities compared to 40.9% as Thinking (T) type personality. F type personalities are well aware about their own and other’s feelings, while T type of personalities are logical and at times paying inadequate attention to other’s feelings. Most (75.8%) of the participants are Judging (J) type compared to 24.2% Perceiving (P) type personality participants. J type personalities are rigid, planned and organised on the contrary, Perceiving (P) type personalities are flexible, impulsive, and keep options open.

Table – 2 – MBTI Personality Type (Frequency and Percentage)

Type	Male	Female	Frequency	Type	Male	Female	Frequency
ENFJ	8	2	10	INFJ	1	6	7
ENFP	4	4	8	INFP	2	1	3
ENTJ	1	8	9	INTJ	1	4	5
ENTP	2	1	3	INTP	2	0	2
ESFJ	11	24	35	ISFJ	4	11	15
ESFP	3	4	7	ISFP	0	3	3
ESTJ	17	7	24	ISTJ	4	3	7
ESTP	7	3	10	ISTP	1	0	1

As shown in the above Table -2 and Figure -1, the dominant MBTI types found in this research are ESFJ (23.5%) and ESTJ (16.1%). However, ISTP (0.7%) and INTP (1.3%) are the least observed personality types. ESFJ personality type are known for their societal and managerial skills. ESFJ are good at generating and sustaining a safe, constant and outgoingsurroundings for themselves. ESTJ are generally concrete, faithful and like to run and arrange the events. They are purportedly good administrators. As shown in the table, more female are ESFJ perosnality than more Male ESTJ perosnalities.

Table – 3 – Gender and MBTI Types

Gender *  E – I | S – N | F – T | J –P Cross Tabulation
Type	Male	Female	Pearson Chi-Square	Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
E	54	53	3.569	0.059 (df -1)
I	14	28
S	47	55	0.025	0.874 (df -1)
N	21	26
T	34	27	4.247	0.039 (df -1)
F	34	54
J	48	65	1.882	0.170 (df -1)
P	20	16

Since the p-value is greater than our chosen significance level (α = 0.05), we do not reject the null hypothesis. Rather, we conclude that there is not enough evidence to suggest an association between gender and personality type E and I, S and N and J and P.

Based on the results, following can be stated:
•	Association was found between gender and Extraversion and Introversion (Χ2 (2)> = 3.569, p = 0.059) (tested hypothesis at (α = 0.10).
•	No association was found between gender and Sensing and iNtuitive (Χ2(2)> = 0.025, p = 0.874)(α = 0.05),.
•	No association was found between gender and Judging and Perceiving (Χ2(2)> = 1.882, p = 0.170)(α = 0.05),.
As seen in the above table, the important dimension which statistically significantly differentiates male and female respondents is Thinking and Feeling.

Table – 4 – Medium of Instruction and MBTI Types

Medium of Instruction *  E – I | S – N | F – T | J –P Cross Tabulation
Type	Vernacular	English	Pearson Chi-Square	Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
E	50	50	0.779	0.378 (df -1)
I	19	23
S	56	46	1.963	0.161 (df -1)
N	20	27
T	29	32	0.496	0.481 (df -1)
F	47	41
J	61	52	1.657	0.198 (df -1)
P	15	21

Based on the results, following can be stated (tested hypothesis at (α = 0.05) that no association was found between medium of instruction and E | I, S | N, T | F and J | P dimensions of Personality.

Table – 5 – Specilizationand MBTI Types

Specialization *  E – I | S – N | F – T | J –P Cross Tabulation
Specialization	E	I	S	N	T	F	J	P
Marketing	36	9	32	13	21	24	33	12
Finance	37	19	39	17	20	36	45	11
HR	33	14	30	17	20	27	34	13
Other	01	00	01	00	00	01	01	00
Total	107	42	102	47	61	88	113	36

As shown in Table 5, out of 107 Extroverted personalities, 36 (24.16%) were from Marketing specialization, while 37 (24.83%) were from Finance specialization. 33 (22.15 %) and 01 (0.67%) were from Human Resource and Other specializations respectively. Highest number of respondents who were Introvert in nature is from Finance specialization (12.75%). Highest number of Finance students is from Sensing (S) type personality (26.17%) among all the specializations. They focus on the current and actual facts gained from five senses. 30.20 % of respondents who are Judging personalities (J Type) are from Finance specialization. They are planned, organised and rational.

Table – 6 – Specilizationand MBTI Types

MBTIType * Specialization Cross Tabulation
		Specialization				Total
		Marketing	Finance	HR	Other
MBTIType	ENFJ	3	5	2	0	10
	ENFP	2	2	4	0	8
	ENTJ	3	1	5	0	9
	ENTP	1	1	1	0	3
	ESFJ	11	14	9	1	35
	ESFP	3	2	2	0	7
	ESTJ	8	9	7	0	24
	ESTP	5	3	2	0	10
	INFJ	1	3	3	0	7
	INFP	1	1	1	0	3
	INTJ	2	3	0	0	5
	INTP	0	1	1	0	2
	ISFJ	3	7	5	0	15
	ISFP	0	1	2	0	3
	ISTJ	2	2	3	0	7
	ISTP	0	1	0	0	1
Total		45	56	47	1	149

As shown in the above table, ESFJ was the most observed type of personality across all the specializations.

Conclusion

Most of the previous studies related to Personality were carried out in western context. The present study focuses on Management students from Gujarat, India. This study determines the appropriateness of MBTI as a tool to assess Management student’s personality types. In this study the ESFJ and ESTJ were two dominating personality types. This shows the dominance of Extrovert and Sensing students in Management Education. Further, for each pair E-I, S-N, T-F and F-P, similar pattern was observed regardless of gender, medium of instruction, and specialization of their courses. This survey of personality types among management students will further facilitate appropriate teaching – learning – evaluation strategies depending upon the personality types of the students. Further, it also concentrates on the appropriate demographic factors to be taken in to consideration for effective management teaching pedagogy.

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