Contributions of Thinking Styles to Critical Thinking Dispositions

Abstract

The main purpose of the author's research was to investigate whether thinking styles significantly contribute to critical thinking dispositions. Two samples of Chinese university students, one from Beijing and the other from Nanjing, participated in the study. The participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner, 1992) based on Sternberg's theory of mental self-government and to the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (P. Facione & N. Facione, 1992), which assessed the 7 dimensions of the critical thinking construct as defined in The Delphi Report (see P. Facione, N. Facione, & C. Giancarlo, 2001). Results from both samples supported the prediction that thinking styles statistically contribute to individual differences in critical thinking dispositions. These findings have implications not only for classroom instruction and assessment but also for academic and nonacademic program development.