PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF NEED ACHIEVEMENT IN ACADEMICALLY TALENTED MALE AND FEMALE ADOLESCENTS

TIMOTHY PATRICK LAUGHLIN, Marquette University

Abstract

The delineation of relationships between selected personality characteristics and need achievement is a logical area of investigation given the critical importance of motivation in contemporary society. However, little is known in regard to the personality dimensions which are correlates of need achievement. Females in need achievement research are also a neglected area and females were investigated on an equal basis with males in this study. The subjects were seventy male and seventy-six female adolescents. These students were enrolled in accelerated or Group I sophomore, junior, and senior classes at Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in New Berlin, Wisconsin. All of these students possessed grade-point averages above 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The predictor variables were the seven factor-analytically derived scales of the Thurstone Temperament Schedule. The criterion measure was the Mehrabian Measures of Achieving Tendency--1978 Revision. To determine the relationships between the predictor variables and the criterion, the statistical procedures of stepwise multiple regression and double cross-validation were utilized. Ferguson's (1971) procedure for evaluating the significance of differences between correlation coefficients was employed along with the Chi-square technique for determining if a relationship exists between the criteria of sex and need achievement. Supplementary analyses were also carried out utilizing factor-analytic procedures and the Student's t-test. The multiple regression analyses produced statistically significant R's (p < .05) for the aggregate or combined population and the male and female subsamples. However, the male regression statistics were found to be unstable. The factor-analytic procedures suggested differences between the personality characteristics of need achievement for males and females. The results of the Chi-square technique and the Student's t-test were not significant.

Recommended Citation

LAUGHLIN, TIMOTHY PATRICK, "PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF NEED ACHIEVEMENT IN ACADEMICALLY TALENTED MALE AND FEMALE ADOLESCENTS" (1982). Dissertations (1962 - 2010) Access via Proquest Digital Dissertations. AAI8307067.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI8307067

Share

COinS