Impulsiveness Among a Sample of Arab Open University Students and Its Relation to Assertiveness in the Light of Gender, Specialization and Study Level

Abstract

The present study aimed at revealing the correlation between Impulsiveness and Assertiveness on a sample of students from the Arab Open University, the Jordan Branch. In order to achieve this, the Impulsiveness scale was implemented which consisted of three subscales (motor Impulsiveness, non planning, cognitive Impulsiveness), and the Assertiveness scale was also implemented on (255) male and female students from the departments of Management, Information Technology and Computing, English Language and Literature and Education. The arithmetic means and standard diviation were calculated from the study sample’s responses on Impulsiveness scale and assertiveness scale. Results revealed that the highest level that appeared in Impulsiveness was cognitive Impulsiveness and the lowest was motor Impulsiveness, while the study sample showed an average level of assertiveness. The study also found an inverse relationship with statistical significance value of (α > 0.05) between Impulsiveness subscales and assertiveness, the more assertiveness is the less Impulsiveness will be. Results also indicated that there are no significant differences with (α > 0.05) value between students on Impulsiveness and assertiveness with reference to gender (male/ female) and specialization. Regarding academic level, there are no significant differences between students on Impulsiveness, while students of second and the third year appear to have higher level of assertiveness when compared to students in their first year. And there are no differences between other levels.