Personality Characteristics of Music Educators and Performers

Abstract

Personality type, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and psychological androgyny, as determined by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), were evaluated in a comparison between musicians who had selected careers in either music education or music performance. Comparisons of the educators and performers indicated that there were no significant differences between the groups for each of the four MBTI dimensions. When the psychological classifications on the BSRI (i.e. androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated), were compared for both samples, no significant differences were found. Androgyny (i.e. the ability to move freely across stereo- typical sex-role behaviours) was identified as the modal psychological characteristic of both music educators and performers. Physiological gender was found to be a significant factor only among female educators and only for the BSRI classification of androgyny. The results of this study indicate that musicians who are educators and musicians who are performers may be more alike than different with regard to personality type and psychological androgyny.