Using Personality Profiles to Help Educators Understand Ever-Changing Hospitality Students

Abstract

Since the early 1920s when Carl Jung initially suggested that people are different in fundamental ways even though they have the same multitude of instincts, several types of personality assessment have developed. This study explores the relationships between new and previously published personality types of hospitality students using three personality inventories. The purposes of this study are to (1) report Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Keirsey Temperament Sorter profiles, and True Color profiles of a group of hospitality leadership students, (2) compare the True Color profiles of current hospitality leadership students with those reported by Crews, Bodenhamer, and Weaver in 2010, and (3) compare the MBTI and Keirsey Temperament Sorter profiles of current students with those reported by Horton, Clark, and Welpott in 2005. Data were collected from 217 hospitality leadership students in a senior-level hospitality human resource management course at a southeastern U.S. university. Results of the chi-square tests revealed significant differences between the two groups in the profiles of the MBTI and Keirsey Temperament Types. The results also showed that the two groups differ in two of the four True Color profiles. By understanding the transformation of hospitality students, educators can adapt and create a better learning environment for their students and ultimately enhance student knowledge, skills, and abilities in a more effective and efficient manner.