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

Introduction The 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 2

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 3

Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology, manifested by characteristics of anxiety, moodiness, worry, envy and jealousy. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, envy, guilt, and depressed mood. They respond more poorly to environmental stress, and are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. The trait of extraversion–introversion is a central dimension of human personality theories. The terms introversion and extraversion were first popularized by Carl Jung, although both the popular understanding and psychological usage differ from his original intent. Extraversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behaviour, whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved, quiet, shy behaviour. In case of Personality Traits, in this survey we are dealing with two factors namely Neuroticism and Extraversion. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT 4

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 5

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 6

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. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT 7 Standard Deviation Boys: 5.36 Girls: 4.84

DISCUSSION Our results provide strong support that girls experience loneliness comparatively greater than boys. In case of neuroticism, it is found that many students especially girls have scored high in the neuroticism scale which means these students are more likely to experience feelings like anxiety, anger etc. In case of both boys and girls it is found that extraverts are considerably higher in number than introverts which is a good sign. It means many people are sociable and friendly. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT 8

References  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,  Felix Neto (1992), Social Behaviour and Personality: Loneliness among Portuguese Adolescents Suggestions  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. INEDEPENDENT PROJECT 9