Effects of Caste on Development of Big Five Personality Factors

By : Chandrashekhar S Gawali

Page No: 109-117

Abstract
Caste as social identity determines the social status and treatment by other caste members. It remains active in overall development including personality, thus current paper examines effects of caste on development of personality factors. The degree college students from open and scheduled castes are selected for study. Five Factors Personality Inventory (Revised) by McCrae and Costa is used on a purposive sample of 200 students to assess personality. One way ANOVA was computed to examine the effects. Insignificant relationship found between caste and neuroticism but mean values were higher among scheduled caste students. No significant relationship was noted regarding extroversion and caste. In case of openness relationship found was significant (F= 5.35; df: 1 & 196; P<0.01), and higher mean values of girls stated that, both scheduled and open girls scored significantly higher than boys from both castes. Significant difference was noted at 0.01 level in case of agreeableness also which proved significantly more agreeableness in open caste girls than both castes boys and SC girls. Significant relationship was found at 0.01 levels with regard to conscientiousness also, girls from both the castes have significantly higher scores on conscientiousness in comparison to boys.

Author :
Chandrashekhar S Gawali : Asst. Professor — University Department of Human Development, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus, Santacruz (W), Mumbai 400 049