IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–1959.p- ISSN: 2320–1940 Volume 10, Issue 1 Ser. V. (Jan. - Feb.2020), PP 09-12 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/7388-1001050912 www.iosrjournals.org 9 | Page Personality Factors of Male and Female Teachers – A Comparative Analysis Dibakar Ghosh* Samirranjan Adhikari** Sushanto Mahato*** *Research Scholar, Department of Education, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal, India **Professor, Department of Education, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal, India ***Assistant Professor, Gour Mohan Sachin Mandal Mahavidyalaya, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India Abstract: Teachers with sound mental health are the prime requirement of the country. To understand the mental health status a comparative study was undertaken through descriptive survey method. To collect the data a twenty eight item “General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28)” was administered on a stratified random sample comprising of 363 male and 234 female teachers selected from 30 schools of West Bengal, India. From the results it was observed that the male teachers were more extravert than their female counterparts; and female teachers are more neurotic than their male counterparts; otherwise there was no gender difference in the rest of the factors of personality. Keywords: Personality, Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 29-01-2020 Date of Acceptance: 14-02-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Theoretical Perspective of the Study Personality has been conceptualized from a variety of theoretical perspectives, and at various levels of abstraction or breadth (John, Hampson, & Goldberg, 1991; McAdams, 1995). Researchers, as well as practitioners in the field of personality assessment, were faced with a bewildering array of personality scales from which to choose, with little guidance and no overall rationale at hand. What made matters worse was that scales with the same name often measure concepts that are not the same, and scales with different names often measure concepts that are quite similar. Although diversity and scientific pluralism are useful, the systematic accumulation of findings and the communication among researchers became difficult amidst the Babel of concepts and scales. Many personality researchers had hoped that they might devise the structure that would transform the Babel into a community speaking a common language. What personality psychology needed was a descriptive model, or taxonomy, of its subject matter. After decades of research, the field is approaching consensus on a general taxonomy of personality traits, the “Big Five” personality dimensions. Rather than replacing all previous systems, the Big Five taxonomy serves an integrative function because it can represent the various and diverse systems of personality description in a common framework . 1.1 Significance of the Study The education system of a country in general and the school education system in particular are the appliances to develop the human capital as economic assets for wealth generation of the country as well as also as social assets for improving the quality of the living of the members of the society. Highly satisfied teachers are main engineer to put up properly effective education. In a study conducted by Ghosh, Adhikari and Das (2019) it was explored that on an average the teachers of our country did not experience much stress – but their stress was above the “mild strength rating”; so it was noticeable. In another Ghosh, Adhikari and Bhattacharya (2019) have found that on an average the teachers were somewhat open, they might tend to be daydreamer and might not be down to earth; again they were somewhat conscientious, they might tend to follow rules and prefer clean homes, and might not be messy and cheat to others; the teachers were not so introvert or extrovert, they might tend neither to be very social not might prefer to work on their own projects alone; they were somewhat agreeable, they might tend to typically polite and like people, and might not tend to “tell it like it is”; and they were emotionally much stable and might have good mental health. In the present study the researchers were enthusiastic to compare the life satisfaction of the male and female teachers of our country.