Back to School: What's Your Ideal Learning Style?

Did you know that your personality determines your preferred learning style? Based on your Core Values Index psychometric profile, you can discover more about the four personality types and how they can help you learn more effectively.

The connection between personality and learning style is well documented. It's also very intuitive.

If you have an analytical mind, you will naturally take in knowledge and go about learning new skills in a more regimented way that matches the way you think.

If you are the creative type that loves group activities where you feel connected to others, you would likely prefer to learn new things in a similar group-oriented and less structured manner.

Personality Basics

According to the world's most accurate and reliable psychometric assessment and personality test, the Core Values Index™, there are four broad personality types called core value energies.

The four core value energies are called Builder, Merchant, Innovator and Banker. Each represents a particular set of attributes and preference for how you operate and see the world. Each person has a particular combination of these core value energies within their personality's DNA.

Can the entire human population be broken down into just four categories? Certainly not!

Unlike many other personality tests, the Core Values Index doesn't pigeonhole people into clearly labeled yet rigid structures. Instead, it assesses and measures how much of each of the four core value energies resides within you, on a scale from 0 (none) to 36 (maximum).

It is the combination of the four core value energies within your personality, along with your life experiences, that makes you unique. And it is the primary and secondary core value energies that play the biggest part in determining your optimum learning style.

(There are millions of different combinations of the four core value energies represented by the Core Values Index psychometric assessment. What are your scores?)

→ See also: Can a psychometric assessment help you learn?

How to Reveal Your Optimum Learning Style

Step 1. Take the Core Values Index

Your CVI profile reflects the way your mind works. It reveals how you see the world and prefer to operate within it. It unveils the kind of activities that make you happy (and why) and what stresses you out (and why).

The Core Values Index personality assessment only takes about 8 minutes to complete and the results are thorough yet easy to understand.

After completing the CVI, you'll receive a set of four scores, each representing how much of the four core value energies (Builder, Merchant, Innovator and Banker) reside within your personality.

For the context of this article, we'll focus on your primary core value energy as it has the greatest influence on how you prefer to learn. Your secondary core value energy plays some part in that; the closer your secondary score is to your primary, the more influence it has.

Step 2. Identify your primary and secondary core value energy scores.

Remember your scores and how similar they are. If your primary core value energy is high compared to your secondary score, then it will likely be the dominant influence in how you prefer to learn. If your primary and secondary scores are close together, then your learning style will be more of a blend of those energies.

Step 3. Read each of the descriptions below to discover the preferred learning method associated with each core value energy. Don't just focus on the learning style that matches your primary core value energy, though. Reading about how they all work will help you understand how other people prefer to learn, too.

Core Value Energy Learning Preferences

→ For more detail, be sure to read Learn How to Learn Best

Builders learn by doing.

Since Builders are all about power and energy, they love getting things done. They prefer to focus on the destination rather than the journey (and getting there quickly), and this greatly affects their learning style.

Builders learn through a hands-on and action-oriented process, unafraid of trial and error. Reading manuals or sitting through long-winded lectures is tedious and tiring to them. Give them something they can get their hands on right away and they'll enthusiastically dive right in. Despite their relative lack of patience, they can enjoy the process as long as it is engaging and filled with challenges.

Merchants learn by talking and listening.

The interaction between people is the mechanism by which Merchants learn most effectively. They thrive on personal connections and this feeds their optimal learning style. Reading manuals, especially in isolation, will try a Merchant's patience almost as fast as it will that of a Builder. Instead, they do best with lots of activity, especially with others.

Merchants enjoy learning through storytelling.

Merchants form and expand their learning by expressing their thoughts and ideas with other people. Merchants also enjoy learning through storytelling; raw facts and data will bore them.

Innovators learn by observing, making assessments, and solving problems.

Because the lifeblood of an Innovator's existence is to solve problems, this heavily influences their optimal learning style. Innovators are somewhat methodical in their learning approach, preferring to sit quietly and study a problem. An Innovator's biggest fear is being foolish, so they strive to understand a problem thoroughly.

The second aspect of an Innovator's learning style is to brainstorm with others to interactively and thoroughly understand the topic. Like Merchants, they gain value by teaching others and by doing so they can further refine their thinking.

Bankers are the most studious of the four core value energies, learning by reading and analyzing.

What makes Bankers thrive is the gathering and sharing of knowledge. This is reflected in their optimal learning style: they gather and analyze facts. Another driver for the Banker is to ensure any actions they take are appropriate, precise, and correct the first time. Trial and error, like a Builder might prefer, is a counterproductive and even anxiety-inducing approach for the Banker.

Because Bankers crave accuracy, their biggest fear is appearing ignorant. They take this thirst for knowledge into their learning style with calm yet methodical tenacity.

What Is Your Preferred Learning Style?

As stated, you are a unique combination of your particular Core Values Index profile (one of many millions of possible combinations) and your life experience. It is your CVI profile that plays the biggest part in your optimum and preferred learning style.

There are many ways you can acquire knowledge and learn new skills. Some methods work better than others, and none work best for everyone. The Core Values Index can help you identify the approach and method of learning that will be the most efficient and effective based on your particular personality profile.

Core Values Index™ and CVI™ are trademarks of Taylor Protocols, Inc.