Seeking help with week 6 UOP Individual Assignment

Running Head: NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 1

Research on Undergraduate College Students Using The NEO PI-R

Ima Student

PSYCH 525 / Dr. Snider

University of Phoenix

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 2

Abstract

Three research articles were reviewed that investigated the use of the NEO PI-R with

undergraduate college students. The articles concerned three issues concerning the personality

and behavior of students: the differences between students who planned to attend graduate

school and those who did not; the personality variables associated with apathy; and factors

related to college students’ psychological sense of community. The NEO PI-R proved to be a

valuable tool in assessing the attitudes of the undergraduate students in each study.

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 3

Personality Instrument

The personality instrument investigated in this paper is the NEO PI-R. The

revised NEO PI-R Personality Inventory is designed to measure five domains of personality, as

well as the six facets that describe each domain that is used to assess adult personality (Cohen &

Swerdlik, 2010). The inventory is based on the Big Five factor model of Personality. The five

domains of personality measured with this instrument are Openness, Conscientiousness,

Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. The inventory is designed to measure the

personalities of adults 17 years and older and consists of 246 items in the form of a self-survey.

The purpose of the NEO PI-R is to assess emotional, interpersonal, experiential,

attitudinal, and motivational styles of its subjects. The results of this inventory can be valuable in

the areas of counseling, clinical psychology, psychiatry, vocational counseling and

industrial/organizational psychology, and educational and personality research.

“The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) consists of 30 facet scales that

define the broad domains of the Five-Factor Model of personality” (Trull, Widiger, & Burr,

2001, p. 176). The domains are as follows:

1. Neuroticism: identifies individuals who are particularly vulnerable to psychological

distress.

2. Extraversion: quantity and intensity of energy directed outwards into the social world.

3. Openness to Experience: the active seeking and appreciation of experiences.

4. Agreeableness: the kinds of interactions an individual prefers from compassion to tough

mindedness.

5. Conscientiousness: degree of organization, persistence, control and motivation in goal

directed behavior.

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 4

Application Chosen

The demographic population that is represented in this critique is undergraduate college

students. The three studies included in the critique explore various issues facing undergraduate

college students.

Literature Review

Article 1

Scepansky and Bjornsen (2003) compared the attitudes and personality traits of 166

students who planned to attend graduate school with 161 students who planned to work after

college. Participants in the study consisted of 336 college students (235 female, 101 male),

ranging in age from 17-22. The participants were enrolled in psychology courses at a small state

college in Virginia. The 240-item NEO PI-R was administered to the participants who also

provided answers to the following questions: "How many hours per week on average do you

spend studying or working on schoolwork?" "What do you expect to do after graduation?

(graduate school versus work)" "On average, how often do you participate in class by asking a

question or taking part in a class discussion?" Students responded to the latter item using the

following 5-point scale: 5 = always, 4 = often, 3 = sometimes, 2 = rarely, 1 = never.

The results showed that students planning to attend graduate school participated more in

class, and scored significantly higher on Learning-Oriented Attitudes, Learning-Oriented

Behaviors, Conscientiousness, Competence, Achievement Striving, Openness and Ideas; they

also scored significantly lower on Grade-Oriented Attitudes and Grade-Oriented .

In general, the results of the study support the hypothesis that students who plan to attend

graduate school differ to a degree from students who are planning to enter the work force.

Students who reported an interest in attending graduate school scored significantly higher on all

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 5

of the relevant factors (e.g., Conscientiousness and Openness) and facets (Competence,

Achievement Striving, and Ideas). They also demonstrated through their higher scores in

Learning Oriented Attitudes and Learning Oriented Behaviors, that they study to learn versus

simply studying to obtain a high grade in a class.

Article 2

Bjornse, Scepansky, and Suzuki (2007) assessed current levels of apathy among college

students. Participants completed the NEO PI-R. The researchers predicted that apathy scores

would be positively correlated with Neuroticism (self-consciousness, depression), and negatively

correlated with Extraversion (warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-

seeking, positive emotions) Openness (aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas), Agreeableness

(altruism), and Conscientiousness (competence, order, achievement-striving, self-discipline, and

deliberation). The participants were 336 college students (235 female, 101 male) ages 17-22,

who attended a medium-sized liberal arts university in the eastern United States. The apathy

measure focused on the degree to which students had hopes and plans for their future, had

feelings of adequacy, and expressed interest in daily activities” (Bjornsen, Scepansky, & Suzuki,

2007, p.670). All items were answered using a 5-point Likert scale, and ranged from "strongly

agree" to "strongly disagree." The scales demonstrate high internal reliability and strong

construct validity through associations with expected domains and facets of the NEO PI-R. The

five domains, represent separate fundamental aspects of personality. High levels of male apathy

were associated with high levels of neuroticism, low levels of extraversion, low levels of

conscientiousness, and high levels of agreeableness. High levels of female apathy were

associated with high levels of neuroticism, low levels of conscientiousness, and low levels of

extraversion. These results suggest that apathy may be comprised of the following three

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 6

components: emotional (negative mood, anxiety), social (inadequacy with friends, sensitivity to

ridicule), and goal-oriented (insecure about one's future, low motivation and self-confidence).

Students in the study reported significantly lower levels of apathy than those reported by

Munekata (1997) (cited in Bjornsen, Scepansky, & Suzuki, 2007) for Japanese college students

who were given the Japanese version of the instrument. The strongest predictor of employment

and income after college for Japanese students is the status or educational ranking of the college

or university. Students' "lot in life" has been determined by the time they take the university

entrance exams, which determines which University a student will attend. In this sample,

students with high levels of apathy were not as extraverted, trusting, or conscientious as other

students. Additionally, Japanese students’” interpersonal competence and connectedness to the

college environment also had lower levels of stress and they were less likely to drop out of

college” (Bjornsen, Scepansky, & Suzuki, 2007, p.671).

Article 3

Deneui (2003) examined various factors as they relate to first-year college students’

Psychological Sense of Community (PSC). More specifically, this study examined how “a

student’s sense of community develops over time and how that development relates to

individual personality traits as well as student involvement and participation in various campus

activities and organizations” (Deneui, 2003, p. 224). The study was based on the assumption that

as incoming freshmen new to campus, students would have no sense of community. As a result

of becoming involved in campus activities, as well as the possession of certain personality traits,

their sense of community would increase over the school year. In order to measure results over

an extended period of time, the inventory was administered twice during the school year and was

referred to as Time 1 and Time 2. Time 1 participants consisted of 364 incoming first year

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 7

students. Of these students, 234 were females and 128 were males. Two respondents did not

indicate their gender. Participants were students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at a

large southeastern university. The initial sample of students was asked if they would be willing

to participate in a follow-up study to be conducted near the end of the spring semester. As an

incentive to participate in the follow-up, students were offered a chance at winning a $100 cash

prize. Out of the initial 364 Time 1 participants, 315 indicated they would be willing to

participate in the follow-up study. Out of that sample of 315, 120 (38%) actually completed the

follow-up survey. Time 2 participants included 95 women and 23 men. Participants completed

the 240-item NEO PI-R, which measured individual personality on five broad dimensions,

Neuroticism, Extroversion), and Conscientiousness. Participants indicated their degree of

agreement with each item on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = "strongly disagree" to 5 =

"strongly agree".

Demographic information was also collected including, gender, size of high school, high

school GPA and ethnic background. To test changes over time, the PSC scale was again

administered at the end of the semester (Time 2 PSC). Students were also asked to complete a

participation checklist that measured their involvement in various campus organizations and

activities. The study included 120 participants who completed a battery of questionnaires at the

beginning and end of an academic school year. Results showed that contrary to prediction

students' overall PSC did not increase over the course of the academic year. The findings of this

study reveal no support for the prediction that overall PSC would increase over the course of the

academic school year. “Apparently, it cannot be assumed that PSC will automatically increase

for all students. In fact, the findings reveal that for some students PSC was actually lower at the

end of the school year than at the beginning” (Deneui, 2003, p.230).

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 8

Discussion

Reliability and Validity of the NEO PI-R for College Students

None of the studies reported validity scores for the NEO PI-R. Reliability results were

reported by Deneui (2003), who found the following internal consistency reliabilities for the five

main scales: Neuroticism (alpha = .92), Extroversion (alpha = .90), Openness (alpha = .87),

Agreeableness (alpha = .86) and Conscientiousness (alpha = .91).

Ethical Considerations Regarding the NEO PI-R

While the NEO PI-R has been proven to an effective measurement of personality,

particularly when used by psychologists, the opportunity for misuse is also present. Ethical

considerations must be made when this measurement is used by vocational counselors or other

non-medical professionals because it could result in the labeling of an individual as having

personality conflicts that may be used to discriminate against the individual. Specifically, college

students could be prematurely labeled as having personalities that make them unsuitable for a

specific concentration in school or to aim toward a particular career path. If the instrument is

administered to an 18 year old freshman, his or her results would likely be very different as a 21

year junior or senior. Given that college is often a time of discovery and maturation for students,

their responses to this measurement may change significantly from their college freshman year

until their college senior year.

This instrument, and those like it, can also cause the students themselves to allow the

results to dictate their success in school as well as the goals that they create for themselves. If, as

a result of the instrument, a student sees him or herself as lacking personality traits to be

successful in certain careers, that may allow that to deter their efforts. Perhaps a student who is

18 and dreams of being an attorney scores low in interpersonal scores due to shyness. In three

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 9

years’ time, that student may have conquered shyness. The instrument merely gives a snapshot

in time of students’ personality traits.

Not only could this measurement cause others to prematurely judge a student, but it may

cause the student to prematurely resign to a label that is given to him or her.

Conclusion

Though all three studies essentially measured different attitudes regarding undergraduate

college experiences, the common thread was that the NEO PI-R seem to clearly and adequately

captured the attitudes of the sample population (college students) in each study. The instrument

measured those factors and facets that are very specific to the undergraduate population, and in

turn, it would be difficult to generalize these results to the general population because the general

demographics of the sample population in all three studies do not reflect the demographics of the

general population at large. The common psychometric link between all three inventories given

under all three conditions to similar populations indicate that students who feel that they have a

sense of belonging to their environment scored higher in the areas of consciousness and

competence, and lower levels of neuroticism.

The NEO PI-R is a valuable instrument that can be used to measure the various personality

traits of its subjects. The fact that it is based on the five factor model of personality made this

instrument an effective tool for measuring the characteristics of college students. The instrument

allows the test giver to assess the overt and more subtle personality traits that could assist of

hinder a student’s success. This instrument has the capability of highlighting strengths as well as

areas that students may desire to develop in their quest for their academic and professional goals.

NEO PI-R AND COLLEGE STUDENTS 10

References

Bjornsen, C., Scepansky, J., & Suzuki, A. (2007). Apathy and personality traits among college

students: A cross-cultural comparison. College Student Journal, 41(3), 668. Retrieved

from MasterFILE Premier database.

Cohen, R. J., & Swedlik, M. E. (2010). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to

tests and measurement (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Deneui, D. (2003). An investigation of first-year college students' psychological sense of

community on campus. College Student Journal, 37(2), 224. Retrieved from Education

Research Complete database.

Scepansky, J., & Bjornsen, C. (2003). Educational orientation, NEO PI-R personality traits, and

plans for graduate school. College Student Journal, 37(4), 574-582. Retrieved from

Academic Search Complete database.

Trull, T., Widiger, T., & Burr, R. (2001). A structured interview for the assessment of the five-

factor model of personality: Facet-level relations to the Axis II personality disorders.

Journal of Personality, 69(2), 175-198. Retrieved from SocINDEX with Full Text

database.