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The PersonaliTy TyPes of Chinese DenTal PosTgraDuaTe sTuDenTs

Shengjun Wu, Danmin miao, Xia Zhu, jie Liang, Xufeng Liu, ZhengXue Luo anD Wei Wang

Fourth Military Medical University, People’s Republic of China

The objective of this study was to find the personality types of Chinese dental postgraduate students using the Chinese version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI-Form G; Myers, 1987). The subjects were 372 dental postgraduate students and 336 postgraduates from other professions as a control group. The dental students were at Fourth Military Medical University and Xi’an Medical University. The control group attended Xi’an Jiaotong University. The three dominant personality types among the dental postgraduates were ISTJ (15.3%), ESTJ (13.7%) and ISFP (11.8%). The distribution of Extroversion (E) over Introversion (I) and Thinking (T) over Feeling (F) was different from other professions. Male and female dental postgraduates had similar types of mental attitude (E-I; judging-perceiving J-P) and mental function (sensing-intuition, S-N; T-F). Statistically significant differences were found between males and females in the distribution of J-P types. It was found that Chinese dental postgraduates have personality types that differ from the other comparative Chinese professional student groups.

Keywords: personality, MBTI, dental postgraduate, education, cross-culture.

The personality types of dental school applicants, dental students and dentists have been discussed in previous papers (Chamberlain, Catano, & Cunningham, 2005; Morris, 2000; Murphy, Gray, Straja, & Bogert, 2004; Ranney, Wilson,

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2007, 35 (8), 1077-1086 © Society for Personality Research (Inc.)

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Shengjun Wu, Danmin Miao, Xia Zhu, Jie Liang, Xufeng Liu, Zhengxue Luo, and Wei Wang, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Aerospace Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China. The authors are grateful to all the postgraduate students for participation in this research. Appreciation is due to reviewers including: Robert J. Murphy, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Temple University Hospital, Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA, Email: [email protected] Please address correspondence and reprint requests to: Danmin Miao, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Aerospace Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710032, P.R. China. Email: [email protected]

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& Bennett, 2005; Saline, 1991; Smithers, Catano, & Cunningham, 2004; Westerman, Grandy, & Erskine, 1991). Minimal research on the personality types of Chinese dental postgraduates has been done. Previous studies in Western nations have revealed that dental students exhibited different characteristics from the students in other fields, such as business, engineering and social workers (Silberman, Cain, & Mahan, 1982). Education ability combined with a period of training might produce good dentists, but perhaps such factors as personality have more influence on future success. For example, students’ academic scores are little correlated with their ultimate success in the dental undergraduate course (Carrotte, 1993; Glyn-Jones, 1979). The interest in dental careers has increased dramatically in China in recent years. As the main source of dentists, dental postgraduates should get more proper education. Some results demonstrated the importance of faculty understanding and acknowledging different student personality types and related learning preferences as ways to initiate improvement of dental education, promote student motivation and allow for an expression of learning-style preference (Jessee, O’Neill, & Dosch, 2006). The objective of the present study was to explore the personality types of Chinese dental postgraduate students using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to investigate trends that can be utilized by researches and educators.

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a forced choice, self-disclosure instrument which was developed by Myers and McCaulley (1985). The MBTI provides four dimensions of an individual’s preferences which combine to form an individual’s personality type along the line of Extroversion-Introversion (E-I), where an individual gets energy and focuses attention either on the inner world or outer world; Sensing-Intuition (S-N), the way one gets information; Thinking- Feeling (T-F), the way one makes decisions; and Judging-Perception (J-P), how an individual deals with the outside world and their lifestyle. The MBTI was constructed for classification of subjects into types based on the personality theories of Jung. In his theory, individuals have four basic mental attitudes and four basic mental functions. Mental attitudes include extroversion (to the outside world) and introversion (to the inside world); judging (organized, decision- maker) and perceiving (flexible, adaptive). Mental functions include sensing (realistic, cautious) and intuition (imaginative, creative); thinking (logical, analytic) and feeling (sympathetic) (see Table 1 and Table 2).

MeThoD

The PersonaliTy QuesTionnaire The Chinese version of MBTI (Form G) was used. The MBTI had many

versions; the MBTI (Form G) was revised in 1987 and has 126 items (Myers, 1987). After the MBTI (Form G) was introduced into China, a Chinese version

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was developed and systematic studies have been conducted on it (Luo, Miao, Huangfu, & Chen, 2001; Miao, Huangfu, Chia, & Ren, 2000). The Chinese version of MBTI (Form G) has 94 items (21 EI, 26 SN, 23 TF, and 24 JP). Results confirmed that it had good reliability and validity, which were similar to the English version (Jackson, Parker, & Dipboye, 1996; Sipps & DiCaudo, 1988; Thompson & Borrello, 1986). In the mainland of China the Chinese version of MBTI (Form G) has been used in many fields (Dong, Miao, & Huangfu, 1997; Luo et al., 2003; Wu, Miao, Liu, Zhu, & Xiao, 2006). The cross-cultural validity of the Chinese version MBTI (Form G) has also been studied (Osterlind, Miao, Sheng, & Chia, 2004).

subjecTs Three hundred and ninety-three dental postgraduate students from the Fourth

Military Medical University (216) and Department of Dentistry at Xi’an Medical University (163) were invited to participate in this study and 372 completed the Chinese version of MBTI (Form G). The response rate was 94.7%. Of the subjects, 173 were females and 199 were males, and the age range was 18-23 years. As the control group, 375 postgraduates of other professions in the Xi’an Jiaotong University participated in the study and 336 completed the questionnaire (152 females and 184 males, age range was 17-25 years, response rate, 94.1%). In the control group, specialties such as business, social work, psychology and some other fields were included. The ratio of female/male was approximately equal in the two groups. The questionnaires were in paper and pencil format and were brought directly from the distributors. All participants were assured that the completed questionnaires would remain anonymous and would have no influence on their selection and all subjects participated in the study voluntarily.

resulTs

Differences of MenTal aTTiTuDes anD MenTal funcTion beTween DenTal PosTgraDuaTes anD The conTrol grouP

In the mental attitude pair of characteristics, Introversion (I) was favored by dental postgraduates students over Extroversion (E). But in the control group this was reversed and statically significant differences were found within the two groups (p < 0.01). Both dental postgraduates and the control group preferred Judging (J) to Perceiving (P). In the mental function pair of characteristics, both groups preferred Sensing (S) to Intuition (N). However, thinking (T) was favored by dental postgraduates but there was a higher percentage of Feeling (F) in the control group, and the difference reached a significant level (p < 0.01) (Table 1).

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Table 1 DisTribuTion of Preferences/TyPe in DenTal PosTgraDuaTes anD PosTgraDuaTes of

oTher Professions

Preference/Types Dental Postgraduates postgraduates of other professions χ2 test n % n % Mental attitude

E 165 44.4 190 56.5 I 207 55.6 146 43.5 χ2 =10.50, df = 1, p = .00a J 225 60.5 212 63.1 P 147 39.5 124 36.9 χ2 = 0.51, df = 1, p = .48

Mental function S 252 67.7 217 64.6 N 120 32.3 119 35.4 χ2 = 0.79, df = 1, p = .38 T 216 58.1 108 32.1 F 156 41.9 228 67.9 χ2 = 47.79, df = 1, p = .00a

Personality Type ESTJ 51 13.7 19 5.7 ESFJ 24 6.5 61 18.2 ENTJ 20 5.4 10 3.0 ENFJ 16 4.3 31 9.2 χ2 =38.50, df = 3, p = .00a

ISTJ 57 15.3 25 7.4 ISFJ 26 7.0 42 12.5 INTJ 19 5.1 6 1.8 INFJ 12 3.2 18 5.4 χ2 =21.91, df = 3, p = .00a ESTP 12 3.2 15 4.5 ESFP 15 4.0 21 6.3 ENTP 19 5.1 5 1.5 ENFP 8 2.2 28 8.3 χ2 =19.07, df = 3, p = .00a ISTP 23 6.2 17 5.1 ISFP 44 11.8 17 5.1 INTP 15 4.0 11 3.3 INFP 11 3.0 10 3.0 χ2 = 4.02, df = 3, p = .26

Notes: (E/I=Extrovert/Introvert, S/N=Sensing/Intuition, T/F=Thinking/Feeling, J/P=Judging/ Perceiving). %: percent of total dental and other postgraduates who fall into this type/preference. a Significant at p < 0.05.

Differences of PersonaliTy TyPes beTween DenTal PosTgraDuaTes anD The conTrol grouP

The most dominant personality types of dental postgraduates were ISTJ, ESTJ and ISFP which accounted for 40.9%. In the control group, they were ESFJ, ISFJ

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and ENFJ, and the three types accounted for 39.9%. The derived values showed statistically significant differences in the distribution of all personality types between the two groups except the group of ISTP/ISFP/INTP/INFP (p = 0.26) (see Table 1).

Differences of MenTal aTTiTuDe anD MenTal funcTion beTween feMale anD Male DenTal PosTgraDuaTes

In mental attitude, both females and males preferred Introversion (I) to Extroversion (E) and Judging (J) to Perceiving (P). However, the percentage of Judging (J) of males (68.3%) was far more than that of females (51.4%) and a significant difference was found (p < 0.01). In mental function, both females and males preferred Sensing (S) to Intuition (N) and Thinking (T) to Feeling (F) (see Table 2).

Differences of PersonaliTy TyPes beTween feMale anD Male DenTal PosTgraDuaTes

ISFP (16.8%) and ESTJ (13.9%) were chosen by the majority of females, and the majority personality types were ISTJ (18.6%) and ESTJ (13.6%) in males. No significant differences of distribution were found in the four groups (Table 2).

Table 2 DisTribuTion of Preferences/TyPe in feMale anD Male DenTal PosTgraDuaTes

Preference/Types Female Male χ2 test n % n %

Mental attitude E 80 46.2 85 42.7 I 93 53.8 114 57.3 χ2 = 0.47, df = 1, p = .49 J 89 51.4 136 68.3 P 84 48.6 63 31.7 χ2 =11.06, df = 1, p = .00a

Mental function S 111 64.2 141 70.9 N 62 35.8 58 29.1 χ2 = 1.90, df = 1, p = .17 T 100 57.8 116 58.3 F 73 42.2 83 41.7 χ2 = 0.01, df = 1, p = .92

Personality Type ESTJ 24 13.9 27 13.6 ESFJ 9 5.2 15 7.5 ENTJ 11 6.4 9 4.5 ENFJ 5 2.9 11 5.5 χ2 = 2.64, df = 3, p = .45 ISTJ 20 11.6 37 18.6 ISFJ 9 5.2 17 8.5 INTJ 5 2.9 14 7.0

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Table 2 continued

Preference/Types Female Male χ2 test n % n %

INFJ 6 3.5 6 3.0 χ2 = 1.82, df = 3, p = .61 ESTP 7 4.0 5 2.5 ESFP 5 2.9 10 5.0 ENTP 15 8.7 4 2.0 ENFP 4 2.3 4 2.0 χ2 = 7.34, df = 3, p = .06 ISTP 8 4.6 15 7.5 ISFP 29 16.8 15 7.5 INTP 10 5.8 5 2.5 INFP 6 3.5 5 2.5 χ2 = 6.66, df = 3, p = .84

Notes: (E/I=Extrovert/Introvert, S/N=Sensing/Intuition, T/F=Thinking/Feeling, J/P=Judging/ Perceiving). %: percent of total female and male dental postgraduates who fall into this type/preference. a Significant at p < 0.05.

DisCussion

MenTal aTTiTuDe anD MenTal funcTion Dental postgraduates preferred Introversion (I) to Extroversion (E) while the

tendency was opposite for postgraduate students of other fields. Previous research on dentists demonstrated a similar tendency (Westerman et al., 1991). Some research suggests female medical students show a preference for Introversion (I) while males favored Extroversion (E) (Stilwell, Wallick, Thal, & Burleson, 2000). Extroversion (E) and Introversion (I) belong to the energy preference. Extroverts (E) get their energy from outside and are more active in the interaction. They may be more competitive, expressive and open-minded. Introverts (I) get their energy by concentrating on their own thinking and feeling and they are quiet and contemplate more. The current results suggested that both Chinese female and male dental postgraduates showed the quiet and contemplative traits. Such results are instructive for the future education of dental postgraduates. Chinese educators should show more patience in educational procedure and design of postgraduate courses, and they should give more encouragement but not less criticism in dealing with dental students.

Sensing (S) and Intuition (N) indicated the style of information collection. Sensing (S) types tend to focus on the facts and details, to emphasize reason- result and to be content with routine jobs. Intuition (N), on the contrary, relies on a process that reports meanings and possibilities which have been reached beyond the confines of the conscious mind. Both dental postgraduates and the

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control group preferred S to N, and other studies of undergraduates have shown a similar distribution (Jessee et al., 2006). The preference of Sensing (S) to Intuition (N) was the same with female and male dental postgraduates. Intuitive (N) types generally tend not to focus on facts and are usually not content with routine jobs. Such results suggested that as dental students, both Chinese and those from countries of the Western world showed a greater ability to concentrate on facts compared with others.

Thinking (T) types tend to be objective, just and calm in decision-making, but Feeling (F) types tend to be more subjective and tactful in dealing with people. Thinking (T) was favored by both female and male dental postgraduates but an opposite distribution was found in the control group. The results indicated dental postgraduates seemed more legalistic, impersonal, analytic and justice-oriented which was essential for the dental profession.

Judging (J) types generally focus on the object, they have a preference for order, planning and construction. Perceiving (P) types tend to change and don’t like to be limited, they are more curious and flexible. In the current study, dental postgraduates preferred Judging (J) to Perceiving (P). Other studies have also found that the number of Judging (J) types were significantly higher among dental professionals than in the general population (Jessee et al., 2006; Silberman, Freeman, & Lester, 1992). An interesting finding was that, although female and male postgraduates preferred Judging (J), the percentage of Perceiving (P) among females was far greater than among males. The gender difference might reflect the impact of the Confucian culture on the Chinese. The Confucian philosophy tends to be middle-of-the-road in dealing with people or things, so it emphasizes the change according to different situations. But because Chinese males are probably less influenced by such theory than are females, there are fewer tendencies for Perceiving (P) among them.

PersonaliTy TyPes The dominant personality types of dental postgraduates were ISTJ, ESTJ

and ISFP. The two dominant personality types were ISFP and ESTJ in female dental postgraduates, and ISTJ and ESTJ in males. ISTJs fulfill their goals by contemplation and logistic plan. ESTJs have mechanical minds and are not interested in anything they think useless for themselves. Note that ISTJ and ESTJ, the two of three most dominant personality types among dental postgraduates, have always been found to be the more dominant personality types in dental students or dentists compared with other professions in studies carried out in western countries (Jessee et al., 2006; Silberman et al., 1982; Westerman et al., 1991). Such interesting cross-cultural consistency might reflect the particularity of the dental profession, and provide a reason for further investigation. ISFP was the other dominant type in Chinese dental postgraduates compared with

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other professions. ISFPs restrain their emotions and are responsible for their work and beliefs. The reason for such special types might be the culture or professional differences. The dental profession requires more responsibility because dentists have to interact with all kinds of patients in their daily work. So dental postgraduates might have already prepared for a career with such high risk and workload. So there were more ISFP types compared with students from other professions.

ConClusion

In our study, Chinese dental postgraduates still displayed their special char- acteristics although some cross-cultural similarities of personality types were confirmed. Thus, the study of personality types demonstrated great value in understanding Chinese dental postgraduates. The results may provide useful guidance for Chinese dental postgraduate educators and for those interested in cross-cultural research on dental education.

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