Influence of Personality on Online Discussion

Online collaborative learning has typically been studied within the context of learning communities. Little is known about the potential influence of students’ personalities on online communication, group interaction, and task engagement among members of a learning community. This study used a mixed-method, triangulation design, involving the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, to investigate the effects of personality on communication type and pattern, message length, task engagement, and student attitude toward online learning. Seventy students were organized into four personality-profile groups based on their Five Factor Personality Test scores, for the discussion of assigned case studies. Discussion messages were analyzed using Logistical Regressions for communication type and pattern, ANOVAs for message length, and Z-tests for pairwise comparisons for task engagement. The results indicate that personality affects communication type, pattern and task engagement but not message length. Students’ attitudes toward online discussion were generally positive. The results provide guidelines for forming groups and designing activities for online collaborative learning. The educational value of collaborative learning experiences has been established in many contexts (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1997; Johnson & Johnson, 1989, 1999, 2004; Roberts, 2004). Online collaborative learning has typically been studied within the context of learning communities (Harrison, Zappen, Stephen, Garfield, & Prell, 2001; Sherry, 1996; 2000; Solloway & Harris, 1999; Zieger & Pulichino, 2004). A learning community is a social organization of individuals working together, sharing knowledge, attitudes, and values, to achieve mutual goals. Effective communication brings community members together (Depew & Peters, 2001). Though communities are composed of people with common interests (American Heritage Dictionary, 1997), individuals within communities bring unique personalities, a stable feature of individuals that affects behavior (Fleeson, 2001). Individuals with different personalities may prefer different styles or methods of communication. As a result, personality may affect group dynamics, performance, and production, either supporting or impeding a group’s success as a learning community. Studying online discourse can help us understand how students with different personalities interact with each other during the learning process (Ingram & Hathorn, 2004; Sorensen, 2004). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of personality on online communication and task engagement and to seek guidelines for organizing groups and designing online collaborative learning activities.