This thesis hypothesizes that a method for selecting instructional strategies (specifically media) based in part on a relationship between learning style preference and personality preference provides more relevant and understandable feedback to students and thereby higher learning effectiveness. This research investigates whether personality preferences are valid predictors of learning style preferences. Since learning style preferences are a key consideration in instructional strategies and instructional strategies are a key consideration in learning effectiveness, this thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the relationship between personality preferences and effective learning in intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). This research attempts to contribute to the goal of a "truly adaptive ITS" by first examining relationships between personality preferences and learning style preferences; and then by modeling the influences of personality on learning strategies to optimize feedback for each student. This thesis explores the general question "what can personality preferences contribute to learning in intelligent tutoring systems?" So, why is it important to evaluate the relationship between personality preferences and learning strategies in ITS? "While one-on-one human tutoring is still superior to ITS in general, this approach is idiosyncratic and not feasible to deliver to [any large population] in any cost-effective manner." (Loftin, 2004). Given the need for ITS in large, distributed populations (i.e. the United States Army), it is important to explore methods of increasing ITS performance and adaptability. Findings of this research include that the null hypothesis that "there is no dependency between personality preference variables and learning style preference variables" was partly rejected. Highly significant correlations between the personality preferences, openness and extraversion, were established for both the active-reflective and sensing-intuitive learning style preferences. Discussion of other relationships is provided.

The aim of this thesis is to examine preferences for personality traits within the spectrum of extroversion and introversion. Based on previous research, the hypothesis of this study was that extroversion was valued higher than introversion. The differences between men and women’s preferences were also examined. The material being used was based on research on the fundamental lexical hypothesis and its semantic similarity to the Big Five. Seventy two students filled in a questionnaire where they were asked to rate 18 personality adjectives as positive or negative. The results indicate a preference for extroversion which supports the hypothesis. However, no significant difference between men and women could assuredly be established. / Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka preferenser för personlighetsdrag inom spektret extroversion och introversion. Med utgångspunkt från tidigare studier ställdes hypotesen att extroversion värderas högre än introversion. Dessutom undersöktes om preferenserna skiljer mellan kvinnor och män. Materialet som användes var baserad på studier om den fundamentala lexikala hypotesen och dess semantiska likhet till the Big Five. Sjuttiotvå studenter fick besvara en enkät där de ombads bedöma 18 personlighetsadjektiv som positiva eller negativa. Resultatet visar en generell preferens för extroverta personlighetsadjektiv vilket stödjer studiens hypotes. Någon säker skillnad mellan mäns och kvinnors preferenser gick inte att iaktta.

The objective of the present study was to explore whether individuals' career anchors are dependent on their personality types. The Career Orientation Inventory (COI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were administered to a sample of honours students in the subject field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology in order to measure the relationship between the two constructs. For statistical purposes only the female participants were included in the final sample analysis (N=117) because of the underrepresentation of males. Statistically significant differences were established with regard to the security/stability career anchor and the ESFJ, ENFP, ESFP and INFP personality types. It is recommended that future studies include larger samples that are more representative of all possible sixteen (16) personality types and a broader range of occupations. The findings contribute new knowledge regarding the career anchors and personality preferences of females pursuing further studies in the field of IO-Psychology. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The objective of the present study was to explore whether individuals' career anchors are dependent on their personality types. The Career Orientation Inventory (COI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were administered to a sample of honours students in the subject field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology in order to measure the relationship between the two constructs. For statistical purposes only the female participants were included in the final sample analysis (N=117) because of the underrepresentation of males. Statistically significant differences were established with regard to the security/stability career anchor and the ESFJ, ENFP, ESFP and INFP personality types. It is recommended that future studies include larger samples that are more representative of all possible sixteen (16) personality types and a broader range of occupations. The findings contribute new knowledge regarding the career anchors and personality preferences of females pursuing further studies in the field of IO-Psychology. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to construct a career meta-competency model for sustained employability in the contemporary world of work. This study explored a convenience sample (N = 304) of early career employees’ personality preferences (measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), self-esteem (measured by the Culture-free Self-esteem Inventories for Adults) and emotional intelligence (measured by the Assessing Emotions Scale), as a composite set of their personality attributes, in relation to their employability attributes (measured by the Employability Attributes Scale). The participants comprised 81% blacks and 64% females employed in the business management field in managerial/supervisory (53%) and staff (28%) level positions. Their ages ranged between 25 and 40 years (early adulthood and establishment phase) (79%). The correlations, canonical correlations and multiple regression results indicated that the participants’ personality attributes were significantly and positively related to their employability attributes. Structural Equation Modelling indicated a moderate fit between the theoretically hypothesised career meta-competency model and the empirically tested structural model. The results indicated job level as a significant moderator of the relationship between the participants’ personality and employability attributes. Middle management level was associated with an inverse relationship between the personality and employability attributes. Staff and middle managers did not significantly differ regarding their mean scores on these variables. On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the cognitive, affective, conative and interpersonal behavioural dimensions of the hypothesised career meta-competency model. On an empirical level, the study produced an empirically tested career meta-competency model in terms of the various behavioural dimensions. On a practical level, career v counselling and development interventions for guiding employees’ sustained employability in terms of the career meta-competency behavioural dimensions were recommended. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to construct a career meta-competency model for sustained employability in the contemporary world of work. This study explored a convenience sample (N = 304) of early career employees’ personality preferences (measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), self-esteem (measured by the Culture-free Self-esteem Inventories for Adults) and emotional intelligence (measured by the Assessing Emotions Scale), as a composite set of their personality attributes, in relation to their employability attributes (measured by the Employability Attributes Scale). The participants comprised 81% blacks and 64% females employed in the business management field in managerial/supervisory (53%) and staff (28%) level positions. Their ages ranged between 25 and 40 years (early adulthood and establishment phase) (79%). The correlations, canonical correlations and multiple regression results indicated that the participants’ personality attributes were significantly and positively related to their employability attributes. Structural Equation Modelling indicated a moderate fit between the theoretically hypothesised career meta-competency model and the empirically tested structural model. The results indicated job level as a significant moderator of the relationship between the participants’ personality and employability attributes. Middle management level was associated with an inverse relationship between the personality and employability attributes. Staff and middle managers did not significantly differ regarding their mean scores on these variables. On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the cognitive, affective, conative and interpersonal behavioural dimensions of the hypothesised career meta-competency model. On an empirical level, the study produced an empirically tested career meta-competency model in terms of the various behavioural dimensions. On a practical level, career v counselling and development interventions for guiding employees’ sustained employability in terms of the career meta-competency behavioural dimensions were recommended. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The factors that hinder or help the development of emotionally competent behaviour in leaders appear to be varied and complex. The role of personality variables such as personality preferences and self-esteem in influencing the development and demonstration of emotional competent behaviour has not yet been well researched. The general aim of this research was to investigate whether a relationship exists between personality preferences, self-esteem and emotional competence, and to determine whether the variables personality preferences and self-esteem can predict the demonstration of emotional competence. Personality preferences were studied from the Analytical Psychology paradigm. Jung's Psychological Types and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator theory of Personality Types provided a theoretical understanding of individual differences in emotional response behaviour. Based on the Humanistic and Social Psychology paradigms, the construct self-esteem was explored from a multi-dimensional perspective with particular emphasis on individuals' self-evaluative views and feelings of self-worth, self-acceptance, sense of belonging and sense of psychological well-being within the particular socio-cultural domain in which these aspects manifest themselves. Emotional competence was studied from the paradigmatic perspectives of the Cognitive Social Learning theories. Emotional competence was viewed as the workplace application of emotional intelligence abilities, which are developable and can be learned. In this regard, emotional competence was described as the demonstration of self-efficacious behaviour in emotion-eliciting social transactions. Emotional competence implies a sense of psychological well-being (a positive inner state of being) and an ability to skillfully, creatively and confidently adapt in an uncertain, unstructured and changing socio-cultural environment. An empirical investigation was conducted to analyse the responses of a randomly selected sample of 107 South African leaders in the manufacturing industry to measures of these three constructs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Culture-free Self-esteem Inventories for Adults (CFSEI-AD), and the 360° Emotional Competency Profiler (ECP) were administered. The MBTI extraverted-thinking and extraverted-intuitive personality preferences were associated with the CFSEI-AD social, general and total self-esteem scales. In terms of the ECP emotional competence self-evaluations, self-motivation was associated with the MBTI extraverted-judging, extraverted-thinking and extraverted-intuitive preferences, while interpersonal relations was associated with the extraverted-intuitive and extraverted-feeling preferences. The MBTI introverted-sensing, introverted-judging and introverted-thinking preferences were associated with the ECP emotional literacy scale, and the introverted-judging, introverted-sensing and introverted-thinking preferences were associated with interpersonal relations in terms of the emotional competence other evaluations. The MBTI introverted-thinking preference was associated with the ECP self-esteem/self-regard other evaluations and the CFSEI-AD personal self-esteem scale. The ECP total emotional competence scale was associated with the MBTI extraverted-intuitive preference (in terms of the self-evaluations) and the introverted-judging and introverted-thinking preferences in terms of total emotional competence other evaluations. The CFSEI-AD general, personal and total self-esteem scales were associated with the ECP change resilience, self-motivation, self-esteem/self-regard, interpersonal relations and total emotional competence scales. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the ECP emotional competence construct is closely related to the affective component of the CFSEI-AD self-esteem construct, particularly one's sense of psychological well-being which is related to feelings of self-worth. The empirical results confirmed the effect of self-esteem on the self-evaluations of raters exposed to multi-rater assessments such as the 360° Emotional Competency Profiler, namely that self-raters with very high self-esteem may tend to over-inflate their self-evaluations. The CFSEI-AD total self-esteem scale also appears to be a more reliable predictor of emotional competence than the MBTI personality preferences. The results contributed new knowledge about the relationship between individuals' self-esteem, personality preferences and emotional competence and added perspective on the interpretation of individuals' self-ratings, particularly with regard to 360° emotional competence assessments. Recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices regarding leader development are formulated, as well as recommendations for future research in the field. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of the study was to construct a psycho-social model for team cohesion at a financial institution. The financial institution had been in existence for 127 years, and had faced significant challenges throughout its history of acquisitions and mergers to establish working teams that would give it a competitive edge in global financial markets. The research objective was to develop a psycho-social model for team cohesion by investigating the interrelationships and overall relationships amongst the independent constructs (self-worth, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles) and the relevant outcome (team cohesion). Furthermore, the study also scientifically tested the possible moderating effect of the employees’ socio-demographic characteristics (race, gender, age, level of education, job level and tenure) on the fostering of team cohesiveness. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design approach was selected and applied to a simple probability sample (N = 463) using standardised, valid and reliable measuring instruments. The population consisted of permanent employees, and the results revealed significant relationships between the construct variables. The canonical correlation indicated a significant overall relationship between the contingencies of self-worth domains, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles, and the team cohesion-related dispositions of cohesiveness and engaged. The structured equation modelling indicated a good fit of the data between the individuals’ contingencies of self-worth domains (family support, God’s love, virtues, competition, work competence, physical appearance and pleasing others), the accommodating conflict resolution style, an extraversion personality preference, and team cohesion. Hierarchical moderated regression showed that race, age, educational level and job tenure significantly moderated the relationship between the participants’ psycho-social attributes and team cohesion. Tests for significant mean differences revealed significant differences in terms of the socio-biographical variables. On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the antecedent constructs (self-worth, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles) and team cohesion construct. On an empirical level, the study produced an empirically tested psycho-social model for team cohesion. This study will add significant practical, valuable knowledge to the organisation in managing the future establishment and enhancement of team cohesion, and when integrating new team members to the environment during organisational restructuring and re-alignment after acquisitions and mergers, without negatively affecting organisational effectiveness. These findings invariably provided new insight in managing and understanding inherent interpersonal conflict among employees in the workplace and the enhancement of team cohesion practices, thus adding to the existing body of knowledge in the fields of Consulting Psychology and Industrial and Organisational Psychology, more specifically in financial organisations. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

The factors that hinder or help the development of emotionally competent behaviour in leaders appear to be varied and complex. The role of personality variables such as personality preferences and self-esteem in influencing the development and demonstration of emotional competent behaviour has not yet been well researched. The general aim of this research was to investigate whether a relationship exists between personality preferences, self-esteem and emotional competence, and to determine whether the variables personality preferences and self-esteem can predict the demonstration of emotional competence. Personality preferences were studied from the Analytical Psychology paradigm. Jung's Psychological Types and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator theory of Personality Types provided a theoretical understanding of individual differences in emotional response behaviour. Based on the Humanistic and Social Psychology paradigms, the construct self-esteem was explored from a multi-dimensional perspective with particular emphasis on individuals' self-evaluative views and feelings of self-worth, self-acceptance, sense of belonging and sense of psychological well-being within the particular socio-cultural domain in which these aspects manifest themselves. Emotional competence was studied from the paradigmatic perspectives of the Cognitive Social Learning theories. Emotional competence was viewed as the workplace application of emotional intelligence abilities, which are developable and can be learned. In this regard, emotional competence was described as the demonstration of self-efficacious behaviour in emotion-eliciting social transactions. Emotional competence implies a sense of psychological well-being (a positive inner state of being) and an ability to skillfully, creatively and confidently adapt in an uncertain, unstructured and changing socio-cultural environment. An empirical investigation was conducted to analyse the responses of a randomly selected sample of 107 South African leaders in the manufacturing industry to measures of these three constructs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Culture-free Self-esteem Inventories for Adults (CFSEI-AD), and the 360° Emotional Competency Profiler (ECP) were administered. The MBTI extraverted-thinking and extraverted-intuitive personality preferences were associated with the CFSEI-AD social, general and total self-esteem scales. In terms of the ECP emotional competence self-evaluations, self-motivation was associated with the MBTI extraverted-judging, extraverted-thinking and extraverted-intuitive preferences, while interpersonal relations was associated with the extraverted-intuitive and extraverted-feeling preferences. The MBTI introverted-sensing, introverted-judging and introverted-thinking preferences were associated with the ECP emotional literacy scale, and the introverted-judging, introverted-sensing and introverted-thinking preferences were associated with interpersonal relations in terms of the emotional competence other evaluations. The MBTI introverted-thinking preference was associated with the ECP self-esteem/self-regard other evaluations and the CFSEI-AD personal self-esteem scale. The ECP total emotional competence scale was associated with the MBTI extraverted-intuitive preference (in terms of the self-evaluations) and the introverted-judging and introverted-thinking preferences in terms of total emotional competence other evaluations. The CFSEI-AD general, personal and total self-esteem scales were associated with the ECP change resilience, self-motivation, self-esteem/self-regard, interpersonal relations and total emotional competence scales. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the ECP emotional competence construct is closely related to the affective component of the CFSEI-AD self-esteem construct, particularly one's sense of psychological well-being which is related to feelings of self-worth. The empirical results confirmed the effect of self-esteem on the self-evaluations of raters exposed to multi-rater assessments such as the 360° Emotional Competency Profiler, namely that self-raters with very high self-esteem may tend to over-inflate their self-evaluations. The CFSEI-AD total self-esteem scale also appears to be a more reliable predictor of emotional competence than the MBTI personality preferences. The results contributed new knowledge about the relationship between individuals' self-esteem, personality preferences and emotional competence and added perspective on the interpretation of individuals' self-ratings, particularly with regard to 360° emotional competence assessments. Recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices regarding leader development are formulated, as well as recommendations for future research in the field. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)