Personality Traits, Social and Economic Conditions of Runaway and Non-runaway Girls in Tehran

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Abstract

 The Purpose of the present study is the comparison of personality traits, social and economic conditions among runaway and non-runaway girls in Tehran. With reference to previous theoretical and empirical analysis, hypotheses were set forth that are as follows: 1) The profile of personality of runaway girls differ from non-runaway girls',2) Social and economic conditions of runaway girls differ from non-runaway girls. The present research is an ex post facto study, and in order to study the hypothesis, 90 subjects were selected as the sample population, out of which, 45 subject were runaway girls of 15-25 years who included the imprisoned ones, those who were kept in the conservation centers of the welfare organization in Tehran, and those who had escaped only once and were returned to their homes. The other 45 subjects were non-runaway girls who were randomly selected among high school students of district 6 in Tehran. All subjects were assessed by Cattel 16 Factor Test, and Social and Economic Conditions Measurement Questionnaire. The obtained results were analyzed by running T-Test and Chi square. The results revealed that:   1) There was not a significant difference among runaway and non runaway girls. Significant differences came up in eight personality factors of Cattel Scale (B, C, E, G, H, I, O, Q2). In these eight factors, runaway girls scored higher in three factors of I, O, Q2.  2) There were significant differences between the two groups in social condition (to have parents, remarriage of fathers, parents education, parents job, disagreement between parents, marital state of parents, the number of siblings) and economic conditions (parents' income, fulfilling offinancial needs, having pocket money, amount of pocket money, for parents to own parents house).

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