High school student personality and misbehaviour
Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Kanasa, Harry
Other Supervisors
Usher, Wayne T
Year published
2020-05-01
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Studies on personality and crime have reported that adults with certain personality traits are more likely to be involved in crime (Eysenck, 1996; O’Riordan & O’Connell, 2014) and aggression (Ferguson et al., 2008). Links have also been made between misbehaviour at school and heightened risk of criminality after school (Chen, 2008). However, the literature to date appears to overlook the intermediary link – whether there is evidence to suggest that high school student misbehaviour is related to the student’s personality. This topic is of importance to school staff regarding student personal development and behaviour management ...
View more >Studies on personality and crime have reported that adults with certain personality traits are more likely to be involved in crime (Eysenck, 1996; O’Riordan & O’Connell, 2014) and aggression (Ferguson et al., 2008). Links have also been made between misbehaviour at school and heightened risk of criminality after school (Chen, 2008). However, the literature to date appears to overlook the intermediary link – whether there is evidence to suggest that high school student misbehaviour is related to the student’s personality. This topic is of importance to school staff regarding student personal development and behaviour management programs, to teachers who have these students in their classrooms, as well as students themselves as they learn to become more self-aware and responsible as they mature This study viewed behaviour according to Glasser’s (1998) choice theory, with the crucial concept being that students choose their behaviour based on what they believe will bring them closer to their “quality world”. As personality is one of the factors that influence this quality world, it is expected that some aspects of personality may become manifest in different types of behaviour. In this study misbehaviour was viewed as an attempt by the student to correct perceived misalignment between the real world and their quality world. This study investigated whether there was a statistically significant relationship between personality traits as measured by the Five Factor Model (Costa & McCrae, 1992b) and behaviour data from the previous nine months. Using quantitative analysis techniques it concluded that there were statistically significant links between certain personality traits and certain types of behaviour, most notably with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness being negatively correlated to a variety of types of misbehaviour. This study also split the data according to gender, and determined that there were specific types of behaviour that correlated significantly with specific personality traits, and that these results were different for males and females.
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View more >Studies on personality and crime have reported that adults with certain personality traits are more likely to be involved in crime (Eysenck, 1996; O’Riordan & O’Connell, 2014) and aggression (Ferguson et al., 2008). Links have also been made between misbehaviour at school and heightened risk of criminality after school (Chen, 2008). However, the literature to date appears to overlook the intermediary link – whether there is evidence to suggest that high school student misbehaviour is related to the student’s personality. This topic is of importance to school staff regarding student personal development and behaviour management programs, to teachers who have these students in their classrooms, as well as students themselves as they learn to become more self-aware and responsible as they mature This study viewed behaviour according to Glasser’s (1998) choice theory, with the crucial concept being that students choose their behaviour based on what they believe will bring them closer to their “quality world”. As personality is one of the factors that influence this quality world, it is expected that some aspects of personality may become manifest in different types of behaviour. In this study misbehaviour was viewed as an attempt by the student to correct perceived misalignment between the real world and their quality world. This study investigated whether there was a statistically significant relationship between personality traits as measured by the Five Factor Model (Costa & McCrae, 1992b) and behaviour data from the previous nine months. Using quantitative analysis techniques it concluded that there were statistically significant links between certain personality traits and certain types of behaviour, most notably with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness being negatively correlated to a variety of types of misbehaviour. This study also split the data according to gender, and determined that there were specific types of behaviour that correlated significantly with specific personality traits, and that these results were different for males and females.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (Masters)
Degree Program
Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)
School
School Educ & Professional St
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Subject
Adolescent behaviour
choice theory
high school student
misbehaviour
personality trait