Date of Graduation

1993

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This study's purpose was to determine relationships between mathematics achievement in high school seniors and personality types as measured by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and dichotomies of MBTI type: extraversion or introversion (EI), sensing or intuition (SN), thinking or feeling (TF), judgment or perception (JP). The subjects were 269 twelfth grade volunteers from a school district in West Virginia's eastern panhandle. During the spring semester, 1993, the MBTI was administered during the subjects' English classes. Student permanent record cards provided mathematics grade point average and mathematics achievement test scores. T-tests and ANOVA examined relationships with MBTI type, dichotomies of MBTI type, gender, number of mathematics units earned, and type of mathematics courses as independent variables. Dependent variables were mathematics grade point average and CTBS/4 Total Mathematics percentiles. Significance was set at the.05 level. No MBTI type was found to significantly affect mathematics grade point average or CTBS/4 Total Mathematics scores. Introverts in the sample had significantly higher mean math grade point average than extraverts. Number and type of mathematics units significantly affected both measures of mathematics achievement in every interrelationship studied. Gender was involved in six of the seven other significant interrelationships. Affecting mathematics grade point average were: EI with gender, the interaction of EI and gender, EI with type of mathematics units earned, and JP with gender. Affecting CTBS/4 scores were: TF with gender, gender with TF, and gender with MBTI. One can conclude there is no MBTI type which affects mathematics achievement. Introversion and judging and, to a lesser degree, intuition preferences influence mathematics achievement. These results support studies by MBTI researchers. Gender is an important factor in measures of high school math achievement possibly because of the mismatch of female feeling preference with the thinking preference of mathematics teachers. This study offers support for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' proposition that a variety of teaching and assessment models should be used if every student is to learn mathematics to the best of his/her ability.

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