Self-Concept as a Correlate of Aggressive Behaviour among Undergraduate Students of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aggressive behaviour is a menace that has lasting consequences on the victims and the perpetrator, which could result in school avoidance, poor academic performance, dropout, and others. Thus, the study investigated the correlation between self-concept and aggressive behaviour among undergraduate students of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select 720, with 386 male and 334 female participants. An instrument titled “Self-concept and Aggressive Behaviour Questionnaire (SABQ)” was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was subjected to test-retest reliability, and a value of r=77 was obtained. The research questions were answered using mean summation and average, while the hypotheses were tested with Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation and the t-test statistics. The results revealed a low level of self-concept among respondents; males have a lower self-concept than female undergraduate students. There was a high level of aggressive behaviour among respondents; males have more aggressive behaviour than females. There was significant mean difference between male and female respondents in their self-concept and aggressive behaviour. It was recommended that school guidance counsellors design and implement programmes that could enhance self-concept and reduce aggressive behaviour among undergraduate students of universities.