A multivariate comparative analysis of industrial arts college students' personality traits

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to differentiate personality characteristics of students at Montclair State College; and, to identify those characteristics common to Industrial Arts majors and compare these to the identifiable traits of other majors. To accomplish this, two null hypotheses were proposed and tested using multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis. The sample consisted of a total of 111 full-time students enrolled at Montclair State College representing four groups: Industrial Arts, Business, Fine Arts and Liberal Arts. Industrial Arts (IA) was used as an intact population, whereas the others were selected using stratified randomization techniques. Analyses of the data led to the failure to reject the hypothesis that there is no difference among the personality traits of IA majors at different levels (freshman-senior) of study. Therefore, based on this study, it was concluded the IA group is considered a homogenous group possessing similar personality characteristics in all four levels of study. The data comparing all four groups led to rejection of the hypothesis that there is no difference among the personality traits of students in different majors. As a result, it was concluded that students in different majors at Montclair State College possess discernible personality traits based on the results of this study. Discriminate analyses performed on the four groups indicated the ability of the JPI to distinguish members of each group with relatively high probabilities. This finding indicates the potential usefulness of the JPI as a means to aid guidance counselors and advisors in assisting students to choose a major based on results of the JPI. The ancillary analyses revealed several descriptive characteristics of IA students and how they compared to Jackson's national norms of college students.