Comparison of Male and Female Students in Personality Traits and Psychological Symptoms

Identifying some differences between men and women can be useful in guiding people in different areas of life. The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing male and female students in personality traits and psychological symptoms. This research is causal-comparative type. The research population was the students of Islamic Azadi University of Shiraz Branch, who were selected 250 girls and 250 boys by convenience sampling method and completed NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3) and Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). The data of the two groups were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and SPSS-24 software. The findings showed that the score of male students is significantly higher than girls in the personality trait of openness to experience (P<0.001). In the personality traits of conscientiousness, extroversion and agreeableness, the score of female students was significantly higher than male students (P<0.05). Among the psychological symptoms, somatization, depression and anxiety among female students and hostility among male students were significantly higher (P<0.001). According to the results, it can be concluded that there are psychological and personality differences between men and women, which paying attention to them and guiding people based on them can help the future life of people in different fields.