A Study on Personality Traits of College Going Students in Manipur with Special Reference to Gender and Coping Style as the Variable

Personality of an individual is often attributed to the type of coping style used. The way in which an individual perceives stress and cope accordingly plays a role in it. Similarly, students differ in the way stressors are handled and the type of coping style used. Often, the transition from school to college environment brings in a new change. The changes in the form of adaptation to a new environment, number of new choices and experiences, peer group, financial constraint and so on. College students handle stress by using various coping styles which could be healthy or unhealthy ways of coping which could have an impact on their academic performance, dealing with problems and their mental health in general. In this paper it attempts to study the personality traits of college students in Manipur and if these traits have a relationship with the coping styles and gender. The research design used for this study was correlation design. The data was collected using random sampling technique. The sample comprised of 120 college students aged between 18-24 years. The tools administered for the study were NEO- Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) (Form S) (McCrae & Costa, 1988) and Coping Response Inventory (CRI) Adult form (Moos, 1992).  The data was analysed using the SPPSS 17, descriptive statistics and t-test. The findings from the study showed that there was significant relationship between Neuroticism and Avoidance coping style; Agreeableness was related to Avoidance coping style whereases, Extroversion, Openness, Conscientiousness was related to Approach coping style. In this present study, no gender differences were found on personality traits and coping styles of the college students.