Profile of the Personality of Educated Urban Nigerians

Abstract

There is a paucity of factor-analytic studies of personality in Africa. The study’s objectives were: (1) to use the 32 polar names of Cattell’s primary-order factors as a basis for high-lighting the general character of a broad segment of urban Nigerians; and (2) to determine whether factor analysis of the data would yield the type of factors that have been described in other cultures. The sample of 3029 participants included people from all 31 states in 1996, most tribal groups, and most major occupational groups. The standardized item alpha for the questionnaire was 0.85. Descriptors endorsed by over 55% of participants included being: reserved; serious-minded; expedient; trusting; practical; forthright; self-assured; relaxed; outgoing; emotionally stable; conscientious; sensitive; imaginative; experimenting; self-sufficient; and controlled. Only 26% considered themselves as group-dependent. They were thus typical of the open-minded, productive, aggressive, and confident persons that one typically encounters in workplaces in Nigerian cities. The seven factors that emerged were similar to the "Big Five," plus the two valence factors that constitute the "Big Seven." Neuroticism and extraversion were the most robust factors. Our findings support the widely-held impression that certain character dimensions underlie the personalities of humans across cultures.