Personality types of dentists

Am J Dent. 1991 Dec;4(6):298-302.

Abstract

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was used to determine the personality types of dental graduates, 1964-1984, from Creighton University, School of Dentistry. The MBTI reveals the strength and nature of preferences along four dimensions: extraversion-introversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling, and judging-perceptive. In sample (N = 472), four personality types: ISTJ (108), ESTJ (66), ISFJ (48), and ENTJ (37), accounted for 54.9% (N = 259) of the dentists. The remaining 45.1% (N = 213) were divided among 12 personality types without any type accounting for more than 6.1% (N = 29). Comparisons with a general population (N = 9,320) revealed that the dental sample included more introverts (58.9%), thinkers (65.9%) and judgers (75.0%). The implications of personality characteristics, as applied to dentistry through communication patterns, relationships with co-workers and management styles were discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Canada
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Dentists / psychology*
  • Extraversion, Psychological
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Introversion, Psychological
  • Judgment
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Perception
  • Personality Inventory
  • Personality*
  • United States