Extraversion, Neuroticism, Anger and Self-Esteem of HIV Positive Youth

A glimpse at the increasing incidences of HIV positive cases the world over, makes it necessary for behavioral scientists to probe into the psyche of youth, to see what prompts them to become prey to HIV. The present study was an attempt to identify some personality correlates of HIV positive individuals. A sample of 250 HIV positive persons (190 males and 60 females), in the age range of 15-25 years, from two prominent cities of India (Chandigarh and Delhi) were tested. An HIV free sample was selected from colleges of Chandigarh (125 males and 125 females) to compare with the HIV positive sample. These samples were administered Eysenck’s Personality Inventory, Anger Expression Inventory and Self Esteem Scale. The main findings of the research indicated that on the traits of Extraversion and Neuroticism, HIV positive males scored higher than HIV positive females, while overall the HIV Positive subjects scored higher than the HIV free subjects. The results do not show any significant gender difference on Self-Esteem; however both the HIV positive genders show low Self Esteem.