A positive supervisory relationship between field instructor and student is a critical element of a student's success in field education (Ronnestad & Skovholt, 1993; Worthen & McNeill, 1996). Personality type is one of the factors known to have a significant impact on interpersonal relationships (Lawrence, 1997). While individual differences between supervisor and supervisee may contribute to relationship development, they also may form the basis for problems in supervision. Little attention has been given to personality variables in field education, and how these variables influence the quality of the supervisory relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of personality type on student and field instructor perceptions of the supervisory relationship.

Method

This study used an ex-post facto design to examine the influence of personality type on the supervisory relationship. This design is used to measure the effects of pre-existing characteristics on a given criteria, when subjects already possess a certain level of the independent variable. 84 pairs of field instructors and students were administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) at the beginning of their placement to establish personality types. At the conclusion of the placement, participants were administered the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory to measure perceptions of the supervisory relationship. Data resulting from the MBTI are considered categorical data. As a result, students and field instructors were grouped as either having similar personality types or different personality types for each of the four personality dimensions of the MBTI. Data analysis was conducted to determine if there were significant differences in perceptions of the supervisory relationship between pairs with shared personality types and pairs with differing personality types.

Results

Results indicate that students who shared certain personality types with their field instructor rated the overall quality of their relationship significantly higher than those who did not share those personality types. Results were similar for field instructors placed with students of differing types. Students and field instructors who shared personality types in the Extraversion-Introversion and Sensing-Intuition dimensions rated the overall quality of the supervisory relationship significantly higher when compared to those who did not share those types.

Implications

These results suggest that the interpersonal relationship between field instructor and student may be stronger when similarity exists in certain personality preferences. While matching students according to personality type is not recommended, these results suggest the need for field instructors to be aware of their own personality type and to develop an understanding of how to effectively respond to students of different types. This understanding of differences and the ability to respond to differences may lead to a more effective supervisory relationship, and as a result, an enhanced learning experience.

References

Lawrence, G. (1997). Looking at type and learning styles. Gainesville, FL: Center for Application of Psychological Type.

Ronnestad, M., & Skovholt, T. (1993). Supervision of beginning and advanced graduate students of counseling and psychotherapy. Journal of Counseling and Development, 71, 396-405.

Worthen, V., & McNeill, B. (1996). A phenomenological investigation of “good” supervision events. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(1), 25-34.