Krasner et al. BMC Medical Education - The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator association with United States medical student performance, demographics, and career values

Sep 17, 2026

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-reported personality assessment used across industries. Prior research suggests some physicians and medical students show personality-trait patterns linked to academic outcomes, but evidence remains limited for medical students’ MBTI profiles and how these relate to performance, demographics, and career interests. This single-institution cross-sectional study surveys 83 students and analyzes MBTI associations with learning interests, career values, and academic performance using chi-square and t-tests.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

MBTI overview and medical-field relevance

Krasner et al. BMC Medical Education (2024) 24:1293 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06297-y](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06297-y) BMC Medical Education RESEARCH Open Access The Myers-Briggs type indicator association with United States medical student performance, demographics, and career values Henry Krasner1*, Leah Yim1 and Edward Simanton1,2 Abstract Background The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-reported personality test that has continued to gain popularity and traction across industries. The MBTI assesses individuals within four dichotomous categories corresponding to ways to, ultimately, assign one of sixteen personality types. Prior studies indicate that physicians trended towards certain personality traits and medical students with a particular trait performed lower academically. Due to the recency of these studies, however, there is a substantial knowledge gap in the relationship between medical student MBTIs and academic performance, demographics, and career interests. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate this relationship amongst 4-year allopathic U. S. medical students and determine if there is substantial correlation to implement MBTI results in creating personalized student support services in school curriculum. Methods This study was a single institution, cross-sectional study of 83 medical students. A survey was emailed to all students with the MBTI personality test paper edition, in addition to questions regarding specialty interest, learning style preference, and career values. Each student’s responses were de-identified after pairing with the respective students’ academic performance data and demographic information. Chi-square tests were used to compare MBTI data with categorical data such as demographic characteristics while independent sample t-tests were used to compare MBTI data with numerical variables like academic performance. Results Our findings suggest statistically significant associations between Introversion (I) with older age and Thinking (T) with male students. Additionally, Thinking (T) students performed better academically, valued variety in patient care (breadth of patients and pathologies seen), and the specific type of patient contact (longitudinal vs. shortterm, etc.) . Conversely, Feeling (F) students trended towards people-oriented specialties. Regarding learning styles and study environments, Extroverted (E) and Judging (J) types preferred hands-on learning, though Judging (J) types also preferred a quiet environment. No other statistically significant differences were found amongst the remaining variables. Conclusion Medical schools should utilize student MBTI results to individualize student academic and career support as our study indicates various significant associations between some of the personality types. While not a “one-sizefits-all,” the MBTI can be used as a potential starting point for specialty exploration and learning styles. Keywords Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI, Personality Types, Medical Students, Medical Education, Medicine, Medical Specialties, Demographics *Correspondence: Henry Krasner [krasnh1@unlv. nevada.edu](krasnh1@unlv. nevada.edu) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwis

FAQs

What is the study investigating about MBTI and medical students?

The study examines associations between medical students’ MBTI types and academic performance, demographics, and career values, and whether these links could support personalized student services in medical education.

How was the research conducted?

It used a single-institution cross-sectional design with a survey sent to 83 medical students. Responses were de-identified and linked to academic performance and demographic data, then analyzed with chi-square tests and independent-sample t-tests.

What key MBTI-related findings were reported?

The results suggest significant associations: Introversion (I) with older age and Thinking (T) with male students, with Thinking types performing better academically and valuing variety in patient care and specific patient-contact experiences.

Sep 17, 2026

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