The Big Five Personality Factors among Yarmouk University Students According to Gender, Faculty, and Academic Level Differences

(Ahmed S. Bataineh, Ahmad A. Hayajneh, Mazin R. Hatamleh, and Wasim Y. Zeidan)

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Abstract

Many psychiatry scholars were interested in studying personality to established theoretical principles that may explain human behavior logically. However, the scarce of researches focusing on personality traits of students at Jordanian universities led to planning this work as the sector of university youth is the basic of the future society. It is of great importance to achieve full understanding of their personal characteristics in order to understand and explain their behavior and lead them into the right direction. This study aimed to define the big five personality traits mostly spread among Yarmouk University students. It also aims to detect the presence of significant differences of the five personality traits due to gender, faculty specialty (scientific vs humanity), and study year. The scale of big five personality traits developed by Costa and McCrae in 1989 was used for data collection. The validity and reliability of the scale was previously examined. Study sample was randomly selected and consisted of (N=1710) students enrolled in the first semester of the academic year 2015-2016. The results indicated that students achieved medium level across all big five personality traits. It also revealed significant differences in neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness for female students. Significant differences were also found in extraversion and agreeableness for the students of scientific faculties. Moreover, first year students achieved significantly higher scores in extraversion ad agreeableness. The researchers recommends conducting studies that focus on comparing personality traits between able-bodied students and students with disability, between physically active and nonactive students, and between team and individual sports practicing students. Key Words: Personal traits, Youth.
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