Evidence of Post-formal Thinking Among College Students

This study analyzed the effects of age, personality factors and experience in competitive collegiate debate on the ability to think post-formally. College students (N=80) completed a Post-formal thinking questionnaire (modified version of a questionnaire by Sinnot, 2005) and a personality inventory. This was an ex post facto study, the subjects being divided into four groups based on their age (younger/older) and debate experience (debaters/non-debaters). Although both younger and older debaters scored higher on the post-formal thinking measure than non-debaters, and older students scored on average higher than younger students, the differences were not statistically significant. A significant correlation between post-formal thinking and the Big Five trait Openness to Experience has been found. Another important result was that Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness combined can be used to predict the post-formal score. In terms of personality differences between debaters and non-debaters, an interesting finding was that debaters were on average more open to experience, but less agreeable than non-debaters. A finding that complicates the process of explaining post-formal thinking is the interaction between age and personality traits. This study found that younger students were significantly more extraverted and significantly less neurotic than older students.