Personality Patterns of Public School Librarians and Teachers

The “nervousness” factor in the personality profile of teachers in the Slovak Republic

“…• Nervousness -a significantly higher level in comparison with the population standard • Moderation and calmness -a significantly higher level of moderation and calmness in comparison with the population standard • Excitability -a significantly lower level of excitability in comparison with the population standard • Reactive aggression and striving for dominance -a significantly lower level of reactive aggression and striving for dominance in comparison with the population standard� Since our contribution focused only on the analysis of the "Nervousness" factor, only related starting-points will be described in detail� We believe that main causes of the increased Nervousness in the teachers of both levels of education include some serious problems Slovak teachers must face� The most serious ones include the teacher's low prestige and low socio-economic status, uncertainty and instability of positions, a discrepancy between requirements on and actual dispositions of teachers, frequent changes in legislation, increased aggression of children and parents, the teaching profession as a caring profession� All the above causes may to some extent disturb the mental well-being of teachers and keep them in a state of tension manifested by the very psychosomatic disorders and anxiety characteristic of the Nervousness personality factor� Analogical findings by John and Stein (2008) show that up to 15 -45% of teachers indicate increased Nervousness in their health assessment� In connection with the measured "Nervousness" factor, also an increased level of anxiety in the teachers of both levels of education was revealed� In line with our findings, Kenney and Kenney (1982) stated, on the basis of the measurement results of 16 personality characteristics (16 PF -Cattel) in teachers and librarians, that the teachers showed a higher level of anxiety in comparison with the control group� In accordance with the presented results, Řehulka and Řehulková (1998) also recorded a high degree of neurotic problems in teachers, especially in elementary school teachers� They found increased neuroticism in up to 42% of teachers, even pathological values in 11%� In his research, Fontana (1997) also presented an increased level of neuroticism in teachers�…”

Exploring links between early childhood educators’ psychological characteristics and classroom management self-efficacy beliefs.

“…The link between personality and teacher beliefs and behaviours remains largely unexplored (Briggs & Dickersheid, 1985; Coplan, Hughes, Bosacki, & Rose-Krasnor, 2011; Halpin, Halpin, & Harris, 1982; Kenney & Kenney, 1982; Zhang, 2007). Rushton and colleagues (Rushton & Juola-Rushton, 2006; Rushton, Morgan, & Richard, 2007) found that highly effective teachers tend to have a personality type characterised by extraversion, intuition, feeling, and perception.…”