THE IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONALITY TRAITS OF DRINKING AND NONDRINKING FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS

The major purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in the personality traits of drinking and nondrinking female college students, and if there is a difference, to identify the traits in which they differ. The sub-problems within the study were: (1) to identify a representative sample of drinkers and nondrinkers among college women, (2) to identify the personality traits of drinkers and nondrinkers, and (3) to compare the personality traits of the two groups to identify any differences which may exist. The subjects for this study were 190 randomly selected full-time, undergraduate female students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three who were enrolled in First Aid classes at The University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign campus, Indiana University - Bloomington campus, and Purdue University - West Lafayette campus. Each subject was asked to complete a demographic information form, an alcohol questionnaire and a personality questionnaire. The demographic information form was constructed to obtain data on specific social and cultural factors descriptive of the subjects. The alcohol questionnaire, which was developed by the investigator, was used to determine drinking behavior. It consisted of three questions based on frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. The choice of instrument for measuring personality traits was Form C of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire developed by Cattell. The scores obtained from the Sixteen personality Factor Questionnaire were subjected to The Bartlett-Box Test, a two-way analysis of variance, a multivariate analysis of variance, and a discriminant function analysis. The results of this study have provided evidence that there is a difference in the personality traits of drinking and nondrinking female college students. Analyzing the sixteen personality traits acting simultaneously, female drinkers tended to be more assertive, more happy-go-lucky and more shy, while female nondrinkers tended to be more humble, more sober and more venturesome. Analyzing each of the sixteen traits separately, female drinkers tended to be more assertive, more happy-go-lucky and more expedient, while female nondrinkers tended to be more humble, more sober and more conscientious. No significant difference was found in the personality traits of drinking females according to the university which they attended, the same nonsignificant results were found for nondrinking females