Orientation with style. Matching teaching/learning style.

Satisfaction with orientation and the link to overall job satisfaction are important because of the cost of providing new employees with orientation. Matching the teaching style of preceptors with the learning style of orientees is one way to maximize satisfaction. In this article, the author reports the results of a study conducted to determine whether there was a difference in an orientee's perceived satisfaction with orientation, based on whether the teaching style of the preceptor and the learning style of the orientee were matched or not matched. Personality type identified by the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (1962) was used as a measurement of teaching/learning style. The study also evaluated which of the four dimensions of personality type had the strongest relationship between matching or not matching and satisfaction. Those orientees who matched their primary preceptors on the personality preferences of introversion or extraversion reported statistically significant higher levels of satisfaction than those who did not match. Matching/not matching of the introversion/extraversion preference also showed the strongest correlation to overall satisfaction. An exploratory analysis revealed aspects of orientation having the strongest relationship to overall satisfaction. These included creativity, original thinking, experimentation, sensitivity, and flexibility.