PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOURAL MEASURES: GENDER,AGE, AND RACE CONTRASTS IN AN AUSTRALIAN SETTING*

As a complement to previous comparative studies focusing on cognition, this study compares a number of personality and behavioural traits of Australian Anglocelt and Aboriginal children. The personality scales are Extraversion (E), Neuroticism (N), Psychoticism (P), Lie (L), Impulsiveness (Imp), Venturesomeness (Vent), and Empathy (Emp); and the behavioural scales are Relating (R), Asserting (A), Investing (I). and Coping (C). The personality scales were administered to 113 and 42 sixth- and ninth-grade children, respectively. The teachers of the children completed a behavioural rating scale for each child. Thirty-three sixth-graders and 16 ninth-grader were Aboriginal. Sixth-grade males had higher means on P and Vent, while sixth-grade females averaged higher on L, Emp, R, I, and C. Aboriginal sixth-graders averaged higher on P, while Aboriginals overall averaged higher on E, R, A, I, and C than Anglocelts. Ninth-grade males averaged significantly higher on E, Imp, and Vent, and lower on L. The only significant difference for ninth-graders was that Aboriginals averaged higher on L. These results indicate cultural influences bearing upon contact, and support previous informal judgements that Aboriginal children tend to be more reserved in response to formal situations than Anglocelts. Implications are inferred for educational policy.