A Study on Neuroticism in College Students / 영남의대학술지

ABSTRACT

The authors studied neuroticism, using Eysenck's Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), in 3,893 male college students and 1,976 female college students of Yeungnam University. There was significant difference in the mean averages of total neuroticism scores between male and female students, male students scored 13.45±.44, female students scored 16.89±7.19. The items relating to (16) Do you sometimes feel happy, sometimes depressed, without any apparent reason? (38) Do you daydream a lot? (1) Do you have dizzy turns? (2) Do you get palpitations or thumping in your heart? And (35) Do you worry about your health? were scored highly in male, and the items relating to (16) Do you sometimes feel happy, sometimes depressed, without any apparent reason? (1) Do you have dizzy turns? (38) Do you daydream a lot? (8) Do you worry too long over humiliating experiences? (9) Do you consider yourself rather a nervous person? Were scored highly in female. Three hundreds and ninety eight male students (10.3%) showed seriously high neuroticism scores of 24 or higher, while 256 female student (13.0%) showed high neuroticism scores of 26 or higher. In a comparison between male students in different school grades, freshman showed the highest level of neuroticism scores. Among the psychosocial factors, there were strong tendencies toward higher neuroticism scores in the students who were dissatisfied with their colleges or departments, and who had pessimistic views of self-image in the past, present, or future in both groups. The male students whose educational fees were paid by their parents, and whose spending money per month was under 10,000 won, showed higher neuroticism scores. The female students whose educational fees were paid by their brothers or sisters, and whose maturation locations were U-P, and who resided in dormitory or other residencies, shoed higher neuroticism scores.