PERSONALITY TRAITS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS FACTORS IN PREDICTING PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

The study examined the impact of personality traits and emotional intelligence on pro social behaviour among adolescents in Owerri. It was guided by seven hypotheses. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design and the statistics was multiple regression. The sample of the study comprised 200 participants drawn through convenient sampling from the three zones that make up Imo state. Three instruments were employed for data collection, they were Big Five Inventory (BFI) scale by John (1990), Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence by Schutte (1998) and Pro-social behaviour scale by Batson and Week (1996). The result of the analysis showed that personality traits did not significantly predict prosocial behaviour among adolescents in Imo State. The result further showed that emotional intelligence level did not predict pro-social behaviour. Finally, the result revealed that there was no significant joint influence of personality traits and emotional intelligence on pro-social behaviour of adolescents. The study recommends that people should debunk the stereotype that says certain personality traits are good at pro-social behaviour than others.