Examination of Previously Homeschooled College Students with the Big Five Model of Personality

Abstract: One important factor that motivates many parents to homeschool is their desire to have a greater influence on molding their children’s character and/or patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. Personality psychologists have typically employed personality trait theories to study these individual differences that are stable across time and situations (McAdams, 2000). Personality traits refer to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thoughts, feeling and behaviors (McCrae & Costa, 1995). The present study examines the relationship between homeschooling and the Big Five personality traits of college students. Fifty-one previously homeschooled college students completed the NEO-FFI, Form S to measure their personality traits. A series of t-tests were conducted to compare this sample with norms for college-aged students. The homeschool group scored significantly higher on the traits of Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. A post-hoc comparison further compared purely home schooled students (N=29) and mixed home schooled students (N=22) who had attended some traditional schooling (mean=3.45 years). The pure group was significantly higher than the mixed or national sample on Openness. The mixed group was significantly lower than the other two groups on Neuroticism. While this study is correlational in nature, it lends support to the belief that the unique socialization practices of homeschooled families may impact their children’s personality development.

Scott White, Megan Moore, and Josh Squires, *Volume 25, Number 1, 2009, p. 1-7.

* Volumes and numbers are re-structured beginning in 2009.