An experiential thinking style: its facets and relations with objective and subjective criterion measures

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• Thinking styles are often broadly categorized as experiential or rational.
• The experiential thinking style encompasses intuitive, emotional, and imaginative processes.
• The rational thinking style is characterized by logical and analytical thought.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factor structure of experiential thinking.
• To examine the associations between experiential and rational thinking styles and various performance and self-report measures.
• To verify the discriminant validity and independence of these thinking styles.

Main Methods:

• Factor analysis was used to explore the structure of experiential thinking.
• Correlational analyses examined the relationships between thinking styles and creativity, humor, aesthetic judgment, intuition, empathy, social popularity, adjustment, and personal growth.
• Independent verification of thinking styles through observational data was employed.

Main Results:

• Experiential thinking comprises intuition, emotionality, and imagination, while rational thinking remains a coherent factor.
• Experiential thinking positively correlates with creativity, humor, aesthetic judgment, intuition, empathy, and social popularity.
• Rational thinking is associated with adjustment, and both styles are linked to personal growth.

Conclusions:

• The experiential thinking style has distinct facets and is favorably associated with creativity and social-emotional competencies.
• The discriminant validity of experiential facets is supported.
• Both experiential and rational thinking styles contribute to personal growth, highlighting their unique and complementary roles.