'n Ondersoek na die verband tussen angs en algemene persoonlikheidsfunksionering

[摘要] English: Anxiety continually manifests itself in the total spectrum of the psychological functioning of man. Healthy anxiety can contribute to the growth of the developmental tasks in the personality, whilst pathological anxiety can lead to destructivity in the personality. When reviewing the life cycle it is apparent that anxiety peaks during adolescence. This tendency underlines the importance of making a study of the functioning of the adolescent personality.The purpose of this study was threefold:1. To determine whether there are differences in personality functioning between adolescents experiencing a great deal of anxiety and those experiencing little anxiety.2. To determine whether high anxiety and low anxiety are related to similar personality attributes in the two sexes.3. To determine the incidence of high anxiety in the adolescent population as well as establishing the differences, if any, in the manifestation of anxiety in boys and girls.Cattell's trait approach serves as frame of reference in this study. In the literature study attention is paid to his view of personality and anxiety. Cattell defines personality as that which enables a person to predict behaviour in a particular situation. This definition serves as criterium to demarcate the term general functioning of personality. The operationalization of the term anxiety is supported by Cattell'ssecond order anxiety factor. The main first order factors out of which it is composed are Q4 +, Ergic tension; O+, Guilt proneness; Q3 -, Low integration and C-, Lower ego strength.Current literature and research results on the relation between anxiety and general personality functioning are discussed under the following headings: Personal relations, Physical health, Recreation, Intellectualfunctioning, Scholastic functioning, Moral functioning, Family functioning and Social functioning. It was evident throughout that a high anxiety level has a negative effect on general personality.The Afrikaans speaking standard seven pupils of high schools in the OFS, who attended the Zastron Open Air School in 1986, were chosen as population. Data was collected by means of psychometric questionnaires, the HSPQ and IRQ, as well as the biographical questionnaire used by the Zastron Open Air School. Questionnaires were also sent to every school to supply the intelligence quotient, as measured by the NSAGT, and the average scholastic achievement of every pupil. Seeing that the entire population was available, descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the data. Results indicate that there are differences in personality functioning between adolescents experiencing a great deal of anxiety and those experiencing little anxiety. It was also determined that high anxietycorrelates partly with similar and partly with different personality traits in the two sexes.Personality variables showing a relation with anxiety in the case of the boys' group only are: Achievement in sports, Father's occupation and Personal freedom. Personality variables showing a difference in theboys' as well as the girls' high and low anxiety groups are: Nervousness, Health, Intelligence, Lying, Family influences, and Sociability: General. Personality variables showing a relation with anxiety in the girls' group only are: Self confidence, State of health, Activity participation, Scholastic achievement, Frequency of failure, Attitude towards learning, Relationship with father, Relationship with mother and Punitive measures in the home. From the findings there proved to be nearly six times as many girls as boys meeting the criterium for a high anxiety level. Results in this study also indicated that 3,4% of adolescents from a population of 1006 met the criterium for high anxiety.Further research, for instance doing similar studies in other provinces, with other cultural and age groups, monitoring the anxiety level before and after the conclusion of therapeutic programmes in the fields that have now been identified, and determining the causal relation of the high frequency of Afrikaans speaking Free State girls experiencing a high level of anxiety, is recommended in the light of this study.

[发布机构] University of the Free State