A comparative study of extroversion, neuroticism, and self concept of delinquent and non-delinquent girls

• Main Author: McDaniel, James Stephen
• Other Authors: Hendrickson, Donald A.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Female juvenile delinquents > Indiana.; Extraversion.; Neuroses.; Self-evaluation.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/178239; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/414104

The present study was undertaken to determine whether significant differences exist between delinquent and non-delinquent adolescent females in terms of three personality variables, specifically: (1) neuroticism, (2) extroversion, and (3) self concept. An underlying assumption of the study was that all three of the variables would be significantly different between the delinquent and the non-delinquent populations. The expectation was that delinquents would score high in neuroticism and extroversion and low in self concept while the non-delinquents would manifest moderate to low scores in neuroticism and extroversion and would score significantly higher than the delinquent group in the area of self concept.The non-delinquent population was selected from a public community school and consisted of 66 subjects who were chosen by their teachers, counselors, and administrators as representing model school citizens. The delinquent population was selected from three separate correctional institutions within the state of Indiana. This population was composed of 51 girls who had been adjudicated delinquent by the court. The total of 117 subjects was ultimately reduced to two groups of 40, giving a total of 80 subjects who met the following criteria: (1) they were females between the ages of 13 and 18, (2) they were of the Caucasian race, (3) they were not suspected of having brain damage or of being functionally retarded, psychotic, borderline psychotic, or dyslexic, (4) they were able to read at the sixth grade level or above, and (5) they met the delinquent or non-delinquent criteria.The Tennessee Self Concept Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Wide Range Vocatulary Test were administered to the subjects.The data gathered from the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Eysenck Personality Inventory were treated by one-way multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis of variance, and Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. Significant correlations were found within each group between the variables of self concept and neuroticism, and the correlations for these variables were negative indicating an inverse relationship. The directions of these variables, as indicated by their group means, were high neuroticism and low self concept for the delinquent group and high self concept and low neuroticism for the non--delinquent group. There was a high positive correlation between the variables of self concept and extroversion among the non-delinquent group; however, the correlation of these two variables for the delinquent group was not significant. Likewise, the variables of neuroticism and extroversion had a significant negative correlation for the non-delinquent population, but did not show a significant correlation for the delinquent population.Univariate analysis of variance indicated that self concept, as measured by the Total P of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, was significant at the p c.0001 level in differentiating between delinquent and non-delinquent adolescent females. Neuroticism as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory was significant at the p c.005 level in differentiating between delinquent and non-delinquent girls. Extroversion was not a significant variable in differentiating between groups.Within the limitations of the study, it was concluded that low self concept and high neuroticism were traits highly characteristic of the delinquent population while high self concept and low neuroticism were traits which were highly characteristic of the non-delinquent population.