Unformatted text preview: INFLUENCE OF HOME ENVIRONMENT ON PERSONALITY
TRAITS OF ADOLESCENTS
Thesis submitted to the
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of MASTER OF HOME SCIENCE
IN
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES By
LEEMA RAJKUMARI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
COLLEGE OF RURAL HOME SCIENCE, DHARWAD
UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES,
DHARWAD-580 005
JUNE, 2013 ADVISORY COMMITTEE
DHARWAD
JUNE, 2013 (S ARASWAT I C. HUNSHAL)
MAJOR ADVISOR
Approved by :
Chairman : ____________________________
(SARASWATI C. HUNSH AL) Members : 1. __________________________
(PUSHPA B. KHADI)
2. __________________________
(MANJULA PATIL)
3. __________________________
(JYOTI VASTRAD)
4. __________________________
(VEENA JADHAV) CONTENTS
Sl. No. 1.
2. 3. 4. 5 6. Chapter Particulars
CERTIFICATE
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF APPENDICES
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Concept and Definitions
2.2 Personality theories
2.3 Personality traits
2.4 Factors influencing personality traits
MATERIAL AND METHODS
3.1 Research design
3.2 Population of the study
3.3 Sample for the study
3.4 Tools used for the study
3.5 Classification of variables
3.6 Data collection
3.7 Statistical analysis
3.8 Operational definition
3.9 Hypothesis set for the study
RESULTS
4.1 Background characteristics of the adolescents
4.2 Personality traits of urban and rural adolescents
4.3 Home environment dimensions of urban and rural adolescents
4.4 Factors influencing personality traits of adolescents
4.5 Influence of home environment on personality traits of adolescents
DISCUSSION
5.1 Personality traits of urban and rural adolescents
5.2 Home environment of urban and rural adolescents
5.3 Factors influencing personality traits of adolescents
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
APPENDICES LIST OF TABLES
Table
No. Title 1 Background characteristics of adolescents 2 Personality traits of urban and rural adolescents 3 Home environment dimensions of urban and rural adolescents 4 Influence of age on personality traits of adolescents 5 Influence of gender on personality traits of adolescents 6 Influence of ordinal position on personality traits of adolescents 7 Association of fathers’ education and personality traits of adolescents 8 Association of mothers’ education and personality traits of adolescents 9 Association of fathers’ occupation and personality traits of adolescents 10 Association of mothers’ occupation and personality traits of adolescents 11 Association between caste and personality traits of adolescents 12 Association between family type and personality traits of adolescents 13 Association between family size and personality traits of adolescents 14 Association between income and personality traits of adolescents 15 Association between socioeconomic status and personality traits of adolescents 16 Association between control dimension of home environment and personality
traits 17 Association between protectiveness dimension of home environment and
personality traits 18 Association between punishment dimension of home environment and personality
traits 19 Association between conformity dimension of home environment and personality
traits 20 Association between social isolation dimension of home environment and
personality traits 21 Association between reward dimension of home environment and personality
traits 22 Association between deprivation of privileges dimension of home environment
and personality traits 23 Association between nurturance dimension of home environment and personality
traits 24 Association between rejection dimension of home environment and personality
traits 25 Association between permissiveness dimension of home environment and
personality traits LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
No. Title 1 Flowchart depicting sample selection for the study 2 Personality traits of urban and rural adolescents 3 Home environment dimensions of urban and rural adolescents LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix
No. Title I General information schedule II Big Five Inventory III Home environment Inventory IV Socioeconomic status scale INTRODUCTION
In modern industrial societies, the passage from childhood to adulthood is marked by a long
transitional period known as adolescence. Adolescence has been defined in a number of ways, from
different points of view, as a period of physical development, a chronological age-span or a
sociological phenomenon. Hurlock designates the years from 10-12 as pre-adolescence, 13-16 as
early adolescence and 17-21 as late adolescence. Whatever may be the definition, the psychology of
the adolescent, who is no longer a child, but not yet an adult, is important in the study of human
behaviour. The term adolescence comes from the Latin word ‘adolescere’ meaning ‘to grow into
maturity’. The chief task of adolescence is to resolve the “crises” of identity versus identity confusion
or identity versus role confusion (Erickson, 1968), so as to become a unique adult with a coherent
sense of self and a valued role in society.
Over the years adolescence has been portrayed as a period of storm and stress, inner
turmoil, transition and a way-station in development. Just as every other stage of life, adolescence
has special problems which must be understood and solved by appropriate technique based on a
sound knowledge of the psychology of the adolescents and so also many developmental changes
takes place during this period, including personality development. Thus there is an urgent need for
parents and society to understand the psychology of adolescence in the light of these considerations
and facilitate the adolescent’s achievement of total development.
Personality is the special group of traits that makes one unique. Looks, actions, and interests
all contribute to one’s personality. It also includes skills, achievements, feelings, thoughts, and habits.
It even includes how one gets along with others and what others think of the person. In fact,
personality is a product of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth. As one grows and
changes in each of these ways, personality grows and changes, too. This will continue throughout the
lifetime. In case of the personality pattern, the different psychophysical systems that make up the
individual’s personality are interrelated, with one influencing the others. The two major components of
the personality pattern are the core- the ‘concept of self’- and the spokes of the wheel- the ‘traits’
which are held together and influenced by the core. The real self concept is the concept that people
have of who and what they are. It is a mirror image determined by their roles, their relationships with
others and what they believe the reactions of others to them are. Each kind of self concept has a
physical and a psychological aspect. The physical aspect is composed of concepts individual have on
their appearance, their sex appropriateness, the importance of their bodies in relation to their
behaviour, and the prestige their bodies give them in the eyes of others. The psychological aspect is
composed of concepts individual have on their abilities and disabilities, their worth and their
relationships with others. At first these two aspects were separate but they gradually fuse as
childhood progresses. And traits are specific qualities of behaviour or adjustive patterns, such as
reactions to frustrations, ways of meeting problems, aggressive and defensive behaviour, and
outgoing or withdrawing behaviour in the presence of others. Traits have two outstanding
characteristics, individuality which is shown in variations in the quantity of a particular trait rather than
in a trait peculiar to that person, and consistency, which means that the person behaves in
approximately the same way in similar situations or under similar conditions. Everyone’s personality is
a mixture of traits. People who have a pleasant mixture of personality traits are easy to like. They are
not always silly or serious, not always forceful or weak, not always outgoing or quiet. People with
healthy, well-balanced personalities may show a little of each trait at different times.
Studies of the development of the personality pattern have revealed that three factors are
responsible for its development; hereditary endowment, early experiences within the family, and
events in later life. The pattern is closely associated with maturation of the physical and mental
characteristics which constitutes the individual’s hereditary endowment. Heredity refers to all the traits
that are passed from ancestors to the person. It is the environment that may help in bringing out
certain traits more than others. Heredity forms the basic personality and then, the effects of the
environment add to the personality development. Environment is made up of everything and everyone
around. It includes home, school, neighbourhood, family, friends, teachers, etc. All parts of the
environment, particularly home environment has the greatest effect on personality. The way a person
relates to his family affects his personality development.
It has been rightly said that home life is the highest and finest product of civilization. Home,
being the first and the major agency of socialization, it has great influence on the development of the
child, particularly in shaping his attitudes and behavioural patterns. The early life experiences of the child in the family lay the groundwork for the type of future
behaviour and the development of attitudes, values and a lifestyle. It is here that the child learns his
first lesson in citizenship and true moral discipline through face-to-face contacts. Family members,
particularly parents, are considered to be the architects in shaping the personality of a child during the
first few years of life. Parental behaviour perceived by children plays an important role in their
personality development. Further, their relationships with family members are greatly influenced by
the home setting- the pattern of life in the home, the kind of people who make up the group living in
the home, the economic and social status of the family in the community and other conditions that
give the home a distinctive character. It is a well known fact that most of those who become
successful in life have come from homes where parental attitude towards them is favourable and
where a wholesome relationship exists between parents and children. If parents want their children to
achieve better, they should provide and maintain in the family highly congenial atmosphere.
Some of the other important personality determinants are cultural influences, physique,
physical condition, attractiveness, intelligence, emotions, names, success and failures, social
acceptance, status symbols, school influence, etc. Analytically, personality of a child is the
consequences of acquisition, assimilation and adaptation of cultural norms and values of one’s own
groups, through social interaction, social learning and socialization process. The nature of personal
experiences which may be emotional, social and intellectual are unique to each individual child and
that is one of the factors of personality differences among children. Nevertheless, each child is born
with potentialities for his own individual responses and for resistance to environmental influences.
However, home/ family sets the pattern for a child’s understanding towards life in general.
Moreover, as the child lives in the close contacts with the family members, he/she initiates behaviour
patterns and learns to adjust to life as they do. Basically there are two major effects that home puts on
the life of a child. First, it provides the condition that facilitates acceptance or rejection of behaviour.
The second, the individual expression in the ways in which the child’s personality is shaped.
So, in order to understand the various personality traits of urban and rural adolescents and
the influence of their home environment and other factors on personality traits of them, the present
study is undertaken with the following objectives:
1. To understand the personality traits of adolescents.
2. To compare the personality traits of urban and rural adolescents.
3. To study the influence of child, parental and familial factors on personality development of
adolescents. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A comprehensive review of studies is an essential step in any research endeavour to provide
base for developing a framework, insight into the methodology and working out a basis for
interpretation of findings. Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the literature pertaining to
personality traits are reviewed and presented under the following headings:
2.1 Concepts and definitions.
2.2 Personality theories
2.3 Personality traits
2.4 Factors influencing personality traits. 2.1 CONCEPT AND DEFINITIONS
2.1.1 Concept of personality and personality development
The term personality comes from the latin word persona, meaning ‘mask’. To the Romans,
persona meant ‘as one appears to others’, not as one actually is. From this connotation of the word
persona, our popular idea of personality as the effect one has on others has been derived. What a
person feels, thinks and is are included in that person’s whole psychological make-up and are, to a
great extent, revealed through behaviour. Personality, then, is not one definite, specific attribute;
rather, it is the quality of the person’s total behaviour. Personality is also used colloquially to imply
personal attractiveness, the ability to withstand hardships and other specific qualities.
Kempf (1919) has defined personality as”the habitual mode of adjustment which the organism
effect between its own egocentric drives and the exigencies of the environment”.
According to Prince (1924), “Personality is the sum total of all the biological inmate
dispositions, impulses, tendencies, appetites and instincts of the individual, and the acquired
dispositions and tendencies”. This definition places a potentially useful emphasis on the inner aspect
of personality.
Watson has called attention to the fact that character is part of personality. He says,
“Personality includes not only these (character-conventional) reactions but also the more individual
personal adjustments and capacities as well as their life history. Popularly speaking we would say that
a liar and a profligate had no characters, but he may have an exceedingly interesting personality”.
Symonds (1928) has defined personality as “the portrait or landscape of the organism working
together in all its phases”, and May (1929) speaks of “the social stimulus value of the individual”.
Allport (1937) has defined personality as a dynamic organization within an individual of those
psycho-physical systems that determine his unique adjustment to the environment. He also defined
personality traits as “modi vivendi”, they have significant role in advancing, adaptation within, and
mastery of personal environment.
McCrae and Costa (1996) based on the five-factor model organized the personality traits
under five broad dimensions: emotional stability, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and
openness.
Personality traits are defined as developmental constructs that change across the life course
(Roberts and Caspi, 2006) in response to the environments being mastered.
2.1.2 Concept of home environment
Human beings are always immersed in a social environment which not only changes the very
structure of the individual or just compels him to recognise facts but also provides him with a readymade system of signs. It imposes on him a series of obligations. Two environments namely, home
and school environments share an influential space in child’s life.
Various researchers have identified the following characteristics of home environment or
parental child rearing practices – permissiveness, willingness to devote time to the child, parental
guidance, parental aspiration for achievement, provisions for the child’s intellectual needs, affective
rewards, instrumental companionship, prescription, physical punishment, principlined discipline,
neglect, deprivation of priviledges, protectiveness, power, achievement demands, indulgence,
conformity, independence, dependence, emotional and verbal responsivity. Involvement with the child, avoidance of restriction and punishment, etc. There exists a great
overlapping in the kinds of behaviour which are in association with different characteristics. 2.2 PERSONALITY THEORIES
In 400 BC, Hippocrates, a physician and a very acute observer, claimed that different
personality types are caused by the balance of bodily fluids. The terms he developed are still
sometimes used today in describing personality. Phlegmatic (or calm) people were thought to have a
higher concentration of phlegm; sanguine (or optimistic) people had more blood; melancholic (or
depressed) people had high levels of black bile; and irritable people had high levels of yellow bile.
Psychoanalytic theories:
By the early years of the twentieth century, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) had begun to write
about psychoanalysis, which he described as ‘a theory of the mind or personality, a method of
investigation of unconscious process, and a method of treatment’. Central to a psychoanalytic
approach is the concept of unconscious mental processes– the idea that unconscious motivations
and needs have a role in determining our behaviour. This approach also emphasizes the irrational
aspects of human behaviour and portrays aggressive and sexual needs as having a major impact on
personality. He developed a number of hypothetical models to show how the mind (or what he called
the psyche) works:
a) a topographic model of the psyche – or how the mind is organized;
b) a structural model of the psyche – or how personality works; and
c) a psychogenetic model of development – or how personality develops.
Trait theories – aspects of personality:
Traits – or descriptors used to label personality – have their origins in the ways we describe
personality in everyday language. In the early years of personality theory, many theorists used the
term types to describe differences between people. Sheldon, for example, categorized people
according to three body types and related these physical differences to differences in personality.
Endomorphic body types are plump and round with a tendency to be relaxed and outgoing.
Mesomorphic physiques are strong and muscular, and usually energetic and assertive in personality.
Ectomorphic body types are tall and thin and tend to have a fearful and restrained personality. Not
only is it unlikely that personality can be mapped to body type, but the idea that all people can be
allocated to a small number of categories is challenged by modern trait theories.
Modern theorists view traits as continuous rather than discrete entities. So, rather than being
divided into categories, people are placed on a trait continuum representing how high or low each
individual is on any particular dimension. The assumption is that we all possess each of these traits to
a greater or lesser degree, and that comparisons can be made between people.
Cattell’s 16 trait dimensions
Like Allport, Cattell believed that a useful source of information about the existence of
personality traits could be found in language, the importance of a trait being reflected in how many
words describe it. Cattell called this the lexical criterion of importance. Building on Allport’s work,
Cattell collated a set of 4500 trait names from various sources and then removed obvious synonyms
and metaphorical terms, until he reduced these to 171 key trait names. He collected ratings of these
words and factor-analysed the ratings. His subsequent investigations yielded three types of data,
which he categorized as follows:
1. L-data – life record data, in which personality assessment occurs through interpretation of
actual records of behaviour throughout a person’s lifetime (e.g. ...
View
Full Document
