Applicability of Sternberg's mental self-government theory in academic situations: Thinking styles and five big personality traits

Abstract

Introduction: The first aim of this study was to verify Sternberg's claim that the theory of mental self-government is applicable to academic settings in Iranian publication. The second was to future explore the utility of measuring intellectual styles (a general term encompassing such style constructs as cognitive, learning and thinking styles) in addition to measuring personality. Method : The thinking styles inventory and the big five traits inventory were administered to 419 students (214 male and 205 female) in Iran. Data was analyzed using correlation and hierarchical regression. Results: The results supported Sternberg assertion regarding the validity of the theory of mental self-government in academic settings in Iranian college students. Moreover, findings suggested that it was meaningful to investigate intellectual styles in addition to examining personality. Conclusion: Although there is some systematic overlap between personality and thinking styles, it certainly makes sense to mention thinking styles and personality separately in different setting such as educational ones.