Peer Review

Using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter to Determine Communication Styles

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Reviewed:: Dec 6, 2019 by Professional Coaching

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Ratings

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Overview:: The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is found on a commercial site that categorizes individuals into four types of temperaments labeled Guardian, Idealist, Rational, and Artisan, each of which has four Characters, based on the Meyers-Briggs typology. These temperaments differ somewhat from the Communication Styles used in most Personal Selling textbooks (Amiable, Expressive, Analytical, and Driver). However, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter allows students to determine their own temperaments through a short forced-choice questionnaire. NOTE: Initially, the site provided information about each type, including well known people for each Temperament and Character, as well as profiles of each for free. However, over the past year, the author has started charging for the complete report and only a simple one is now provided.
Type of Material:: Website/Simulation
Recommended Uses:: This site may be easiest to browse individually and online by students. It may also be useful for faculty to showcase and dissect in class question by question, to assess validity and reliability of questionnaires such as this. It will be useful for helping organizations find solutions for their most important people challenges and opportunities.
Technical Requirements:: The ability to successfully complete a survey with multiple choice question options. A web browser with internet connectivity is all that is required to complete this survey. Will also need a pdf reader and Java.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: This site provides a relatively robust, detailed multiple choice questionnaire that may be useful for demonstrating metrics on how personality may be assessed, both through individual assessment and also through class discussion on typologies among the 4 temperaments. Short details of the various temperaments with individuals of a famous nature are also useful and potentially engaging to students new to the field of study of personality and psychology. The major learning goal is to provide temperament of behavior or personality assessment for individuals or team.The KTS-II is implemented by organizations to help their organizations deal with a wide range of factors relating to their most important asset, their people.
Target Student Population:: The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is used by the U.S. government and military, academic institutions, the Fortune 500, prestigious global consulting firms, and innovative social enterprises and faith based organizations. This website is best for students with preliminary knowledge of psychology, such as those who have successfully completed an Introductory Psychology course. It would be of interest, as well, to populations outside of psychology such as sociology and business, who may be assessing the applications of personality assessment into certain career pathways.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Recommended completion of an Introductory Psychology course. Basic computer skills needed.

Content Quality

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Strengths:: Overall the quality and factuality of the questions utilized are appropriate, and the design of the survey itself is useful. Further, the explanations of the 4 categories are also helpful, as are the examples of the individuals who may fall into these 4 categories. This material is very interactive and provides multiple tools for building team performance. Provides an opportunity for a free temperament sorter.
Concerns:: It appears that numerous advertisements are featured on this site, detracting from the professionalism and perception of academic basis of this site overall. Additionally, the site would benefit from having additional reference citations made readily available in order to support their assertions.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: This tool could easily be used in online, hybrid, and even in traditional, face-to-face classes as an out of class activity, and is an easy activity to assign assignments for with introductory level and sophomore level students. Learning concepts are well defined. Multiple modules to assist in using as a toll by options offered in drop down boxes.
Concerns:: None noted

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: Overall the site is colorful, engaging, and interesting. The survey is easy to progress through overall and it is clear once one begins completing questions how to progress along.
Concerns:: The website itself is a bit over-done regarding graphics, texts, and layout. There appear to be repeated links that (may) all go to the same survey, but since they are placed at different locations throughout the page, it looks like an advertisement and it directs the user too many different pathways at the same time. It also decreases the overall easy of usability of the site, particularly if a user is following a screenreader and has multiple avenues to access the exact same content--this is confusing.

Other Issues and Comments:: Overall a very useful site with easy applicability to many psychology and even business and sociology courses.
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