Shyness and its Relation with the Big Five Personality among High School Students in Nablus Governorate- Palestine

Abstract

The study aims to recognize the level of shyness and its relation with the big-five personality factors among high school students in Nablus Governorate, and the differences in their averages due to: gender, academic grade, place of residence, and family economic status, using the descriptive correlational approach. The study applies the tools: Big-five personality factors personality and shyness scales, on a random cluster sample including 300 students. The results reveal that the level of shyness was moderate, with an average of 2.67. The results indicate that the most prominent factors were conscientiousness with an average of 3.99, followed by openness 3.88, then kindness 3.75, extroversion 3.73 (all with high level), and finally neuroticism with an average of 3.16, a moderate level. The results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in students' shyness average due to gender, academic grade, while differences due to place of residence are in favor of residents of refugee camps compared to villages, and in favor of low income families. The results also indicate that there are no significant differences in any of the big-five personality factors due to gender and place of residence, while the differences are only indicative in extroversion and conscience awakening, due to academic grade, in favor of the higher rate (excellent), and in neuroticism due to economic situation in favor of the low and middle levels, and in extrapolation factor in favor of the high economic level. The results also show a statistically significant correlation between neurosis and shyness among students, and a negative correlation between both extroversion and conscience and shyness, while the correlation between openness, kindness, and shyness are not significant. The results show that there is a statistically significant effect of only two factors (neuroticism and openness) in the level of shyness, as they contribute collectivelly to 51.7% of the contrast ratio in the level of shyness, while the rest 48.3% is due to other variables that does not enter regression model. This indicates that there are other independent variables that may play a role in explaining the level of shyness.