Personality, leadership skills and critical thinking among University students.
Abstract
This report is about the research that was carried out in Makerere University
Kampala. The research targeted students from four schools under College of Humanities and
Social Sciences with a population of more than 1753 students. The variables of the study
were personality which refers to a characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It
embraces moods, attitudes and opinions. Personality in this study was in the context of Five
Factor Model also known as the Big five personality traits of Openness to experience,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. The intermediate variable
was Leadership skills which is defined as the process of interactive influence that occurs
when, in a given context, some people accept someone as their leader to achieve common
goals. The dependent variable was Critical thinking which refers to a disciplined, selfdirected thinking that exemplifies the perfections of thinking appropriate to a particular mode
or domain of thought.
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between personality,
leadership skills and critical thinking. The tools of measurement were questionnaires and the
students were the respondents. The data was analyzed using SPSS and the findings indicated
a negative relationship between personality and leadership skills. The second findings
indicated a positive relationship between critical thinking and the personality traits of
Openness to experience and Conscientiousness, the findings however showed no relationship
between critical thinking and the remaining personality dimensions. The third and final
finding of this study indicated a negative relationship between leadership skills and critical
thinking.