Abstract:

This study aimed to examine undergraduate students’ level of assertiveness with regard to gender, class level, self-construal, and five-factor personality traits. The participants consisted of 507 (194 male, 313 female) undergraduate students receiving education at a state university in Ankara. The study data were collected via Voltan-Acar Assertiveness Inventory, Adjective Based Personality Test, Relational-Individual-Collective Self Construal Scale, and Personal Information Form. The multiple regression analysis was used to identify the predictive power of five-factor personality traits and self-construals predictive power on the participants’ level of assertiveness. Independent samples t-test was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between university students’ level of assertiveness according to gender. One-way ANOVA was used to compare university students’ level of assertiveness in accordance with class level. SPSS 21.0 package was used for statistical analysis. The current findings showed that the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness to experience, as well as individual and collective self-construals, predict undergraduate students’ level of assertiveness at a statistically significant level. Also, undergraduate students’ level of assertiveness did not differ at a statistically significant level according to their gender and class level. The findings were discussed in the light of the related literature, and some recommendations were made.

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