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Grouping medical students according to Myers-Briggs principles
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Grouping medical students according to Myers-Briggs principles

Linda Z. Nieman, Donna M. Murasko and Edward J. Gracely
Teaching and learning in medicine, v 6(4), pp 232-236
01 Sep 1994
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10401339409539686

Abstract

The effect of grouping medical students according to Myers-Briggs principles on group process and test performance in a Microbiology-Immunology teaching laboratory was assessed. One hundred twenty sophomore students were divided into 24 groups of 5 or 6 students each, half into groups that had complementary types (as defined by Myers-Briggs principles), the other half into groups that were randomly assigned. Observers rated each group on cohesiveness, task direction, and leadership-sharing variables, using an interaction-analysis rating instrument designed as part of the study. Observers could not discern the leaders more often in the Myers-Briggs complementary groups than in random groups (p = .007), and Myers-Briggs complementary groups spent more time divided into subgroups, some of which were on task, whereas others were not (p = .006). The other 13 observed variables and the mean examination performance did not differ at p ≤ .05 between the random and complementary groups. Given a structured problem-solving task, grouping students according to Myers-Briggs complementary principles had relatively little impact on the way the groups functioned. The most beneficial difference may be that leadership was more democratic in Myers-Briggs groups.

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