Pilot study of Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling in emergency department senior medical staff.
OBJECTIVE
To study the viability of using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in senior ED medical staff and to examine what trends, if any, in personality types exist within the specialty.


METHODS
A pilot cross-sectional survey was undertaken during which a standard MBTI questionnaire was sent anonymously to a convenience sample of senior ED medical staff in Tasmania and South Australia. Completed surveys after a second mailing were analysed and the results collated.


RESULTS
Of 82 senior ED medical staff surveyed, 68 returned completed questionnaires (response rate 83%). The single most common personality group in the cohort was the (Extrovert/Intuitive/Thinking/Judging) ENTJ type exhibited by 12 (17.7%, 95% CI 9.4-28.7%) clinicians in the cohort. This group is present at a rate of 3% in the general population. In terms of individual traits, Introversion was exhibited by 33 (48.5%, 95% CI 36.2-61%), Intuitive traits by 40 (58.8%, 95% CI 46.2-70.6%), Thinking traits by 40 (58.8%, 95% CI 46.2-70.6%) and Judging traits by 53 (77.9%, 95% CI 66.2-87.1%) of our cohort of senior ED medical staff.


CONCLUSIONS
Our senior ED medical staff cohort suggests notable variations from the general population in terms of their MBTI profiles.
Boyd
Russell
R
Lyell McEwin Hospital, Elizabeth Vale, South Australia, Australia. russell.boyd@nwahs.sa.gov.au
Brown
Terry
T
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013021:South Australia; D013648:Tasmania