Antisocial Behavior By Officer Cadets Of The Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna: Personality Trait As a Factor

Abstract

The issue of antisocial behavior in higher education institutions is getting worse. The military establishment in Nigeria is not an exception to the rising antisocial youth tendencies. In this study, the Nigerian Defense Academy's officer cadets were assessed for their personality traits as potential predictors of antisocial behavior. Data on the participants from the four battalions of the academy was gathered using a survey design. The study included 246 participants, 214 (87%) of whom were men and 32 (13%) women. Their mean age was 21.0 years, with a standard deviation of 1.9 years, and their ages ranged from 17 to 28 years. Random sampling techniques that were convenient and easy to use were used to choose the participants. Data collection was done using Goldberg's Big Five Factor Makers (BFFM) from 1992. With the help of multiple linear regressions (MLR), five hypotheses were examined. Results from hypothesis one showed that among officer cadets at the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna, extraversion personality traits did not significantly predict antisocial behaviour ( =.297, t = 1.461, p>.05). The second hypothesis's finding indicated that agreeableness personality trait did not significantly predict antisocial behavior among officer cadets of the NDA Kaduna. ( = -.297, t = -.095, p >.05). While the third hypothesis's finding revealed that conscientiousness personality trait did not predict antisocial behavior among officer cadets at the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna. ( = -.537, t = -1.881, p >.05). Hypothesis four revealed that personality trait of neuroticism significantly predicted antisocial behavior among officer cadets at the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna (r =.591, t = 2.060, p.05). Openness to experience personality trait as indicated by hypothesis five did not significantly predict antisocial behavior among officer cadets at the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna ( = -.218, t = -1.125, p >.05). The study came to the conclusion that NDA officer cadets who scored low or poorly on agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience were more likely to engage in antisocial behavior, whereas cadets who scored highly on neuroticism were more prone to engaging in antisocial behavior. Officer Cadets, on the other hand, were probably not going to engage in antisocial behavior if they had low, negative, or no extraversion personality traits. As a result, it is advised that the Nigerian Defence Academy authority pay more attention to candidates' personality traits during the armed forces selection board in the recruitment and placement of candidates into the academy by using standardized native psychological tools with good psychometric properties in evaluating candidates.