A study of personality dimensions among infertile females and females with children

Pages: 280-282
Manisha Kohli (Department of Psychology, G.C.W., Gandhinagar, Jammu & Kashmir)
Arti Bakhshi (Department of Psychology, University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir)

The stigma of childlessness is so great that infertile women are socially isolated and neglected. This article focuses on the women’s experience with childlessness and its effect on their personality. This study includes 80 infertile females and 80 females with children (mothers). They were examined using Eysenck’s personality questionnaire-R (EPQ-R). The effect of infertility (independent variables) was seen on the personality dimensions (dependent variable). Significant difference exists between infertile females and females with children in case of the psycoticism, neuroticism and extraversion as the personality dimension. These results show that infertile females are high on psycoticism and neuroticism and low on extraversion than females with children. For the childless females, the infertility or involuntary childlessness is the worst thing that could happen and is seen as the major life crises.