Gender Differences in Personality and Sensation Seeking of Tehran University Students

Gender is an important variable which its impact on personality and sensation seeking has been studied in various researches. In some cases the results were inconsistent, which can indicate the role of culture on these relationships. Hence, the present study with the aim of determining gender differences in five factor model of personality and sensation seeking in Tehran university students was performed. Sample of 177 undergraduate students (108 female and 69 male) were selected from University of Tehran using cluster sampling. The NEO-PI-R Questionnaire (Costa and McCrae, 1992) and Sensation Seeking Scale form V (Zuckerman, 1978) were used as instruments. According to the findings, significant difference in big five factors of personality was found between female and male students. Girls showed significantly higher scores on openness to experience and agreeableness compared with boys. Moreover, sensation seeking of boys was significantly different from girls (P