Relationship between Child Abuse and the Trait of Introversion - Extroversion among Senior Secondary Students in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

Survey data collected from 2,000 senior secondary class two (SSII) students in Cross River State, Nigeria were analyzed to determine the influence of child abuse and the trait of introversion-extroversion among senior secondary school students. Four dimensions of child abuse - physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as child neglect were studied. Contingency chi square (X²) was used in testing the hypothesis for introversion-extroversion behavior among senior secondary school students at the 0.05 alpha level of significance. The result obtained showed a significant influence of child abuse on introversion-extroversion characteristics among senior secondary school students in the study area. Students who were abused were more likely to become introverts than those not abused.

Key words: introversion, extroversion, personality traits, non conforming, extroverted individual.