The psychobiological model of personality and its association with student approaches to learning : Integrating temperament and character

Abstract

Personality results from the complex interactions among multiple learning and memory systems. There is a need to examine the personality-learning association using a personality model that captures this complexity: Cloninger’s psychobiological model. The study addresses this need using a person-centered approach. In total, 686 adolescents completed the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) and a measure of approaches to learning. Students with a ‘steady’ temperament showed a preference for the deep approach. Students with high character coherence also had this preference. A temperament profile-by-character profile interaction was crucial for understanding students’ preferred approach to learning. These findings imply that adaptive learning approaches result from an integration of major systems of learning and memory, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory.