Robert J. Sternberg Thinking Styles (1997)

3 functions, 4 forms:

Legislative people

like to come up with their own ways of doing things. Like to create their own rules, prefer problems that are NOT highly structured.

College student adults:

Male Female

Very High 6.2-7 6-7

(top 10%)

High 5.6-6.1 5.6-5.9

(top 25%)

Triarchy: Creative

Executive people like to work within existing structures. Good at figuring out how things work, solving structured problems (math), like to know what rules are.

College student adults:

Male Female

Very High 5.5-7 5.1-7

(top 10%)

High 5.0-5.4 4.9-5.0

(top 25%)

Triarchy: Practical

Judicial people like to evaluate rules and procedures, and like to analyze and evaluate existing things. Like to make judgments and discriminate.

College student adults:

Male Female

Very High 5.3-7 5.6-7

(top 10%)

High 4.6-5.2 5.0-5.5

(top 25%)

Triarchy: Analytic

Forms of mental self-government vary according to how a person is motivated and how they allocate their energy to different goals.

Monarchic: Single-minded and driven. Focused, obsessed with one thing at a time.

College student Males Females

Very High 4.6-7 5-7

High 4.1-4.5 4.4-4.9

Hierarchic: Has a hierarchy of goals, good at setting priorities and ranking more and less important goals.

College student Males Females

Very High 6.8-7 6.1-7

High 5.6-6.7 5.5-6.0

Oligarchic: Motivated by multiple goals simultaneously, tends to view them as being of equal importance. Multitasking--working on several things simultaneously-- is an oligarchic approach.

College student Males Females

Very High 4.4-7 5-7

High 4.0-4.3 4.3-4.9

Anarchic: Large number of goals and needs that are not ordered. Tend to take a random approach and leap from one thing to another. Potential for unusual perspectives and insights.

College student Males Females

Very High 5.2-7 5.5-7

High 4.8-5.1 4.9-5.4