The relationship between thinking styles and personality types

In this study we investigated the relationship between thinking styles and personality types. The participants were 367 third-year students at Dokuz Eylül University who responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI; Stemberg & Wagner, 1992) based on Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government and the Self-Directed Search Scale (SDS; Holland, Powell, & Fritzsch, 1994) based on Holland’s theory of vocational choices. The results showed a close correspondence between thinking styles and personality types. Another finding in this study was that thinking styles differ according to gender and major fields of study. The implications of both findings are discussed in detail.