Study on Personality and Loneliness among the students of IIT Hyderabad

1. Study on Personality and Loneliness among the students of IIT Hyderabad -Jayashankar ( ES12B1011) Under the guidance of Dr. Amrita Deb INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

2. IntroductionThe objective of this study was to investigate the psychometrics characteristics of revised UCLA scale and personality among the students of IIT Hyderabad. Big Five personality Traits The Big Five traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeable-ness, and conscientiousness) described by the Five Factor model of personality (Costa & McCrae, 1992) have been related to a wide range of behaviours including academic achievements and job performance. In this survey we have interrelated two of its traits to the loneliness factor. UCLA Loneliness scale The most common loneliness scale used in United States is the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale of Russell, Peplau and Cutrona(1980). The psychological variables that best predicted the loneliness were happiness, social anxiety, social acceptance and public self consciousness. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

3. Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioural response patterns of an individual. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of this the word based on their theoretical positions.(Wiki Definition) Loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude. The causes of loneliness are varied, but it can be affected by social, mental, emotional, and spiritual factors.(Wiki Definition) INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

4. In case of Personality Traits, in this survey we are dealing with two factors namely Neuroticism and Extraversion. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

5. Method Several students of IIT Hyderabad (60.7% males and 39.3% females) completed the two factors of Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the UCLA loneliness scale, demographic data (gender, age, blood group). The majority were freshmen of B.Tech and all the participants for the study ranged between 18 and 24 years. • The 20-item UCLA Loneliness scale assesses how people sometimes experience. The participants were asked to indicate how often she or he experiences that way (never/rarely/sometimes/always) for each question. • The 60-item NEO-FFI is the most widely used measure of the Big Five personality traits, with well-established reliability and validity. In the present study, we have used only two factors out of five factors, so it turned out to be 24-item scale. In the same way as UCLA scale people are asked to indicate their responses for the questions. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

6. Result: The table below given is the mean score for loneliness. High mean scores indicate high degree of loneliness. According to the values evaluated it can be inferred that girls experience more loneliness than boys Standard Deviation Boys: 7.38 Girls: 4.32 INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

7. Result: The table below given is the two of five factor inventory, where these are the mean values recorded for both factors correspondingly each to boys and girls. Standard Deviation Boys: 5.36 Girls: 4.84 INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

8. DISCUSSION INEDEPENDENT PROJECT

9. Suggestions References • In case any person is willing to conduct such a survey, they are requested to include large number of participants for better results. • While conducting the survey take care that questions are asked in simple language or explained propel to the participants. • Meera Kommaraju, Steven J. Karau, Ronald R. Schmeck(2008), Learning and Individual Differences: Role of the Big Five personality traits in predicting college students' academic motivation and achievement • Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66,20-40. • Felix Neto (1992), Social Behaviour and Personality: Loneliness among Portuguese Adolescents INEDEPENDENT PROJECT