Personality and Learning: A Review. J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 6(4): 89-97

This review focuses on the effect of personality on learning styles of students and also briefly discusses the relationship between learning styles and culture. A review of the current literature reveals that there has been a lot of research on the effect of personality on learning processes in different age groups and at different circumstances. Personality plays an important role that affects academic achievement. Modern research has shown that individuals differ in specific human characteristics such as memory, motivation, decision-making, and learning. In the last two decades, a lot of studies have been done to examine the relationship between learning styles, learner’s personality, and performance in academic settings. The reviewed studies substantiate that there is a relationship between personality types and/or traits of the learners, the way they establish their learning styles, and their academic success in school and university both at an undergraduate and postgraduate level. Therefore, learners depending on the type of their personality resort to different learning styles or preferences which, in turn, affect their learning performance. Learning style assessment can provide the basis for a more personalized approach to student’s advisement and placement, instructional strategy, and evaluation of learning. The concept of learning styles is based on the theory that an individual responds to educational experiences with consistent behavior and performance patterns. The complexity of the construct, the psychometric problems related to its measurement, and the enigmatic relationship between culture and the teaching and learning process means that the body of research on learning styles must be interpreted and applied carefully. These studies have served as the basis for a follow-up teaching improvement of teachers. Results of these studies are also useful in helping faculty better understand and improve the teaching and learning process for students. Additional studies involving the personality type and learning style profiles of students and faculty of different cultural backgrounds and in larger scales are recommended. In this article, we focus on the effect of personality on learning styles of students and also briefly discuss the relationship between learning styles and culture.