Horticulture Therapy, Architecture and Entrepreneurship: The MBTI® Assessment in Research
By Dr. Rich Thompson
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument (MBTI®) is the world’s most popular personality assessment largely because of its practical applications.
It provides a framework that people can easily relate to, making it popular for team building, leadership development, stress management, and other areas that provide tangible benefits.
However, as an instrument that was created and based on decades of research, is thoroughly documented, and meets all the standard criteria for psychological tests (by both the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society), it is also a highly valuable research tool.
As such, researchers around the world use the MBTI instrument to explore connections between personality type and limitless areas of study, ranging from dreams to education to machine learning.
This article continues our ongoing look at how the MBTI is used in peer-reviewed research. This time we’ll explore how MBTI personality type may play a role in horticultural therapy, architectural preferences, and entrepreneurial orientation.
The Effectiveness of ‘Garden Therapy’ Based on MBTI Type
During the lockdown, many turned to gardening as a way to cope with the stress. Formally known as ‘horticultural therapy’ in which a therapist guides a patient through various gardening and plant-based activities, the theory posits that direct contact with plants reduces stress and enhances overall quality of life. Su Yeon An and colleagues sought to determine not only how effective such therapies are, but also whether their effectiveness was influenced by personality type in a study published in the Journal of People, Plants and Environment.
The study involved 30 female participants, 15 of whom showed an MBTI preference for Judging, and 15 who had a preference for Perceiving, based on the Korean Form M version of the MBTI assessment. The participants took part in six therapy sessions, including:
- Making a bouquet
- Transplanting and caring for a monstera plant
- Decoration using pressed flowers
- Making a flower basket
- Watching garden video clips and making a desk mini-garden
- Making preserved lemons with edible flowers and using these to make and enjoy floral tea together
The participants completed a 50-item life stress scale with eight subscales before and after the therapy sessions, and also rated their preferences for each of the six different therapy sessions.
Prior to the sessions, neither Judging nor Perceiving participants, based on the assessment, showed a significant difference in stress levels, or in terms of their level of interest in horticulture.
Following the sessions, however, both Judging and Perceiving participants showed a significant decrease in stress levels. Furthermore, results showed several interesting differences between Judging and Perceiving participants:
- Participants with a Judging preference showed reduced stress levels based on in five of the eight sub-scales: relationship with the opposite sex, relationship with family, economic problems, future problems, and value problems.
- Those with a Perceiving preference showed reduced stress in three sub-scales: relationship with family, economic problems, and value problems.
- Participants who preferred Judging showed a greater preference for each of the six gardening therapy sessions than Perceiving participants.
The research team, led by An, theorized that some of the personality type-based differences may be related to a greater affinity for structured activities on the part of those with a Judging preference. Consequently, the practice of horticultural therapy may benefit from being customized according to personality type.
While the study does have some limitations, including small sample size, lack of a control group, and the fact that it focused exclusively on female undergraduates, it opens up possibilities for the future study of the role of personality type in therapeutic horticulture. It would be fascinating, for instance, to see a future study expand to look at different dimensions of personality, such as Thinking/Feeling or Introversion/Extraversion.
Does Personality Type Affect Preferences for Architectural Styles?
In a 2021 paper presented at ASCAAD Conference: Architecture in the Age of Disruptive Technologies, Ahmed Marey and Ahmed Barake explored how personality type relates to peoples’ preferences for architectural design in their working environments. In the study, 187 participants reviewed and rated a set of architectural images and rated them on a 1 to 5 scale, in order to describe to what extent they preferred:
- More open and exposed vs. less open environments
- Layouts with a more or less direct and practical circulation
- ‘Urban’ vs. more ‘Natural’ views
- Organized plans vs. flexible plans
- Deeper colors vs. more pastel colors
The results were then analyzed by the participants’ reported personality type, according to preference dimensions (i.e. Introversion vs. Extraversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, etc.). The researchers also identified “in between” where the preferences for one or the other were less clear.
The results showed that:
- Those identified as “in between” on the Sensing-Intuition dimension were more likely to choose a natural view over an urban one than those with a clear preference for either Sensing or Intuitive; additionally, they were more likely to choose a flexible plan in place of an organized one.
- Those identified as preferring Intuition were more likely to select deep colors compared to those who preferred Sensing.
- Those identified as ‘in between’ on Extraversion-Introversion had a greater preference for natural views vs. urban views compared with those with clear preferences for either Extraversion or Introversion.
- While the study’s identification of ‘in between’ preferences is arguably inconsistent with Jung’s type theory, the study was nonetheless interesting and may generate further exploration of this topic.
Does Personality Type Influence Entrepreneurial Orientation?
The COVID crisis, followed by the associated ‘Great Resignation’, sparked a great deal of interest in entrepreneurship, as many people who had either lost or quit their jobs considered new options for self-employment. Researchers Tiina Brandt and Nina Helander explored potential relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and personality type in a paper published in The Journal of Finnish Studies. The study involved a dataset of 889 people who had completed the Finnish version of the MBTI assessment and a five-item scale of entrepreneurial attitude, covering risk-taking and growth orientation.
The study found that:
- Participants with Extraversion or Intuition preferences were more risk-orientated than those with Introversion or Sensing preferences.
- Those with a Thinking preference were more growth-orientated than those with a Feeling preference.
- Those with Extraverted, Intuitive or Thinking preferences scored significantly higher on overall entrepreneurial attitude than those with Introverted, Sensing or Feeling preferences.
- There was no significant difference between those with Judging vs. those with Perceiving preferences.
- The most entrepreneurial type was ENTJ, with ENTP the second most prevalent, followed by ENFP, INTP and then INTJ.
- The least entrepreneurial was ISFJ. Then ISFP and INFJ.
It’s important to note that this research doesn’t necessarily predict success in entrepreneurship based on personality type. However, it may be helpful for those considering entrepreneurship, of any type, in helping them understand what kind of challenges they may face along the way based on their personality type.
About the Author
Rich Thompson is the Senior Director of Research at The Myers-Briggs and manages the research team there. He earned his Masters and Ph.D. in Psychology, with a minor in management, from Texas Tech University.
