Assessing Thinking Styles in the Theory of Mental Self-Government: A Hong Kong Validity Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the appropriateness in a non-Western context of the Thinking Styles Inventory and Sternberg's underlying theory of mental self-government. The way to achieve this goal was through analyzing data collected from 88 Hong Kong postsecondary students. The results indicated that the scales were reasonably reliable, and factor analysis of the scales was fairly encouraging. The discrepancy found in the number of dimensions of thinking between the current study and what underlies the inventory may represent the participants being ‘tested’ in their second language. The theory's underlying assumptions that thinking styles are socialized and that developmental changes in stylistic preference should show significant effects of age and college class were supported by group differences in certain thinking styles on such variables as sex, college major, subject area taught, age, and college class.