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Lab Report Part1+Part2

Cognitive Psychology (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology)

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Running head: THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 1

Assessing the Impact of Neuroticism and Social Connectedness in Perceived Student Stress

David Bloom: S3717656

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Word Count: 1485

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 2

Abstract

This study reports an analysis of the correlation between neurotic personality traits in

affecting perceived student stress levels as well as assessing the impact of social

connectedness pertaining to stress. A survey was administered to N = 311 students studying at

RMIT University with the ages being a M = 19.71, SD = 3.51. The study utilised a Social

Connectedness Scale-revised, an OCEANIC-BFI Scale, University Stress Scale as well as a

DASS-21 Scale. The results indicated that there was a significant, moderate, positive

correlation between neurotic personality traits and stress, r (309) = 0.40, p < .001. There was

also a significant, negative, moderate correlation between social connectedness and stress, r

(309) = -0.36, p < .001.

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Running head: THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 3

Assessing the Impact of Neuroticism and Social Connectedness in Perceived Student Stress

Students, especially undergraduates studying in University, often find themselves in

precarious circumstances throughout their careers and this almost always leads to

experiencing feelings of stress as well as hopelessness (Bunevicius, Katkute & Bunevicius,

2008). Undergraduates in particular often have the most trouble adjusting to life at University,

as well as having to adapt to an entirely new social ecosystem on Campus, which of course

can lead to stress, which in turn can result in depression and anxiety. Personality has also

shown to be a factor contributing to perceived stress levels in students. It is therefore of great

importance for students to experience the least amount of stress possible, in order to insure

that both their personal and academic lives are able to thrive (Joshanloo, Rastegar & Bakhshi,

2012).

Previously research regarding stress and personality dimensions in students has been found to

have a correlation. For example, a study conducted in a French University with the aim of

discovering what personality traits had a correlation with perceived stress in students found

that students with neurotic personality traits, tended to experience significantly greater stress

(Saleh, Romo & Camart, 2017). Studies have also shown that neuroticism is related to

unhealthy coping mechanisms particularly among first year students (Reichl et al., 2014).

Studies have also shown that when students feel a sense of social connectedness, this can lead

to a significant decrease in perceived student stress levels and in turn, increased feelings of

overall happiness and fulfillment (Satici, Uysal & Engin, 2016). This study was conducted in

a Turkish University in order to understand the relationship between that of social

connectedness, loneliness and subjective happiness. Further evidence does suggest that being

connected with one’s peers will enable students to be more readily able to deal with negative

emotions, show a greater amount of empathy, have improved tolerance to diverse ideas and

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Running head: THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 4

perspectives and improve their overall wellbeing (Gold, Bentzley, Franciscus, Forte & Golia,

2019).

It is the objective of this study to analyse, scrutinise and interpret these findings, in

order to determine the optimum social settings and personality traits necessary in maximising

happiness and minimising stress in students. This research seeks to demonstrate the positive

correlation between the variables neuroticism and stress, as well as establishing the negative

correlation between the variables social connectedness and stress.

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 5

Method
Participants

The participants were N = 311 undergraduates studying at RMIT, (M = 19.71 years,

SD = 3.51) consisted of 82 males and 229 females. Students had the option of completing the

survey or pursuing an alternative option.

Materials

Social connectedness was measured using the revised Social Connectedness Scale,

(Lee & Draper, 2001). This is a 20-item self-report inventory that is designed to measure how

a connected someone is socially. Participants were required to rate how much they agreed

with each statement on a 6-point Likert scale, which ranged from 0 (never) to 5 (always).

The scale has been revised (Lee & Robbins, 1995) and demonstrates validation and support

for the mediation hypothesis, however greater validation is necessary.

The personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and

neuroticism were measured using the Oceanic-Big Five Scale ( Schulze & Roberts, 2006).

This is a 45 item self-report inventory, designed to measure when a person is positioned with

respect to each trait. The 5 subscales contain 9 items. Participants were required to rate how

the following statements applied to them on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (never) to

5 (always). The scores for each personality trait are summed up and measured separately.

Reliability of the subscales being utilised are stated as being above average (Viswesvaran &

Ones, 2000) and validity has not been doubted (Lüdtke et al, 2004).

Stress was measured using the University Stress Scale. This is a 21 item self-report

inventory, which is used to measure what aspects of a student’s life cause them the most

stress over a 30-day period (Stallman & Hurst, 2016). The participants were expected to rate

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 6

how much stress the particular item caused them on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 0

(not at all) to 3 (constantly). The University Stress Scale exhibits good validity, as well as

also showing good reliability.

Procedure

An online questionnaire was administered, with an approximate time of 10 minutes to

complete. Participants were instructed to answer questions regarding their use of social

media, academic performance and wellbeing. Participants were also instructed to not

complete the survey in the presence of friends. Students were informed that participation is

optional and would not have an impact on academic progress. The data gathered is reported

collectively and individuals are not identified, data is securely stored on a server for 7 years.

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 7

Results

Table 1 below, shows the means and standard deviations of: student stress, social

connectedness and neuroticism.

Table 1

Mean and Standard Deviations of Student Stress, Social Connectedness and

Neuroticism

M SD

Student Stress 19.43 8.68

Social 83.56 16.54

Connectedness

Neuroticism 18.59 4.28

As shown in Table 1, scores for social connectedness displayed the highest mean and

standard deviation scores by a fairly large degree. Neuroticism on the other hand, showed the

lowest mean and standard deviation, just behind student stress.

The data was analysed using a Pearson’s product moment correlation. Results showed

there was a significant, moderate positive correlation between neuroticism and stress levels, r

(309) = 0.40, p < .001. This suggests that students with neurotic personality traits are more

likely to experience stress.

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 8

Additional results showed there was a significant, moderate, negative correlation

between social connectedness and perceived student stress levels, r (309) = -0.36, p < .001.

Which suggests that students who engage in social behaviour at University are less likely to

experience stress.

Discussion

A study was conducted in order to test 2 separate hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that

neuroticism will have a positive correlation in predicting student stress levels. The second

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 9

hypothesis was that social connectedness will have a negative correlation in predicting

student stress. Based on the results from the Pearson’s product moment correlation, it appears

that the evidence is in support of both hypotheses.

The trait of neuroticism in affecting stress is unsurprising as the stress levels of neurotic

personalities has already been documented as having a high level of predicting power (Saleh,

Romo & Camart, 2017). The French study was similar in that it also sought to highlight

which personality traits predicted stress in University students, it was also administered as an

online questionnaire much like this study. However, the methodology used in the French

study different in that it contained a greater sample size of N = 483 and also utilised a

perceived stress scale (PSS) a French Big Five Inventory (BFI-FR), both of which were not

used in this study and may account for the difference in correlation strength (r = .66) between

the French study and this one. Past research has also found that social connectedness is

positively and directly related to subjective happiness in University students (Satici, Uysal &

Engin, 2016). The results of which were obtained using the Turkish Social Connectedness

Scale, which in many ways mirrors the Social Connectedness Scale of this study.

The RMIT study contributes a great deal in that it employs a revised Social Connectedness

Scale, an OCEANIC-BFI Scale and the University Stress Scale, this combination of scales

leads to a thorough and more nuanced understanding of how personality traits and social

connectedness can be managed in order to reduce the most amount of stress possible in

students.

That being said, the RMIT study does still suffer from certain limitations. For

instance, the overwhelming majority of participants in the study were female, which equated

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THE EFFECTS OF NEUROTICISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS 10

to 76% of the data, whilst males were only represented in 24% of the data. It should also be

noted that the vast majority of participants were also first-year Psychology students whom

constituted 84% of the data and only 16% were students studying another subject. In order to

reduce this limitation, students from a diverse range of subjects should participate, this way a

larger sample size isn’t needed, yet the population is more practically represented in the

study.

Future studies ultimately, should include a wider array of students studying multiple

subjects as it more accurately gauges how social connectedness and personality traits

influence stress in students at RMIT University. The implications of this study do yield

important information regarding social connectedness, stress and personality traits in students

and have the potential to help students of a broader demographic cope with the stresses of

University and daily life.

References

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Bunevicius, Adomas; Katkute, Arune; Bunevicius, Roberts. 2008. Symptoms of Anxiety

and Depression in Medical Students and in Humanities Students: Relationship With the

Big-Five Personality Dimensions and Vulnerability to Stress. International Journal of

Social Psychiatry 54(6), 494-501. DOI: 10.1177/0020764008090843

Joshanloo, Mohsen; Rastegar, Parviz; Bakhshi, Ali. 2012. The Big-Five Personality

Domains as Predictors of Social Wellbeing in Iranian University Students. Journal of

Social and Personal Relationships, 29(5), 639-660. DOI: 10.1177/0265407512443432

Satici, Seydi Ahmet; Uysal, Recep & Deniz, M. Engin. 2016. Linking social

connectedness to loneliness: The mediating role of subjective happiness. Personality and

Individual Differences 97, 306-310. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.035

Saleh, Dalia; Romo, & Camart Nathalie. 2017. Is Perceived Stress of French University

Students Related to Personality Traits? Psychology Research, 7(1), 42-49.

DOI:10.17265/2159-5542/2017.01.004

Reichl et al. 2014. Burnout risk among first-year teacher students: The roles of

personality and motivation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1(1), 59-65. DOI:

10.1016/j.jvb.2014.05.002

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Gold, Jessica; Bentzley, Jessica; Franciscus, Amanda; Forte, Craig & Golia, Sallie. 2019.

An Intervention in Social Connection: Medical Student Reflection Groups. Academic

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Schofield, M. J., O'halloran, P., McLean, S. A., Forrester‐Knauss, C., & Paxton, S. J.

(2016). Depressive symptoms among Australian university students: who is at

risk? Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 135-144. doi:10.1111/ap.12129

Morris, P. E., & Fritz, C. O. (2015). Conscientiousness and procrastination predict academic

coursework marks rather than examination performance. Learning and Individual

Differences, 39, 193-198. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2015.03.007

Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and

academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322-338. doi: 10.1037/a0014996

Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and

academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322-338. doi: 10.1037/a0014996

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Schulze, R. & Roberts, R.D. (2006). Assessing the Big Five: Development and validation

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Condensed (OCEANIC). Zeitschrift fürPsychologie, 214(3), 133-149. doi 10.1026/0044-

3409.214.3.133

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Counselling Psychology, 48, 310-318. Doi: 10.1037/0022-0167.48.3.310

Stallman, H. M., & Hurst, C. P. (2016). The University Stress Scale: Measuring domains

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