Sex Differences Among Personality Correlates of Mathematical Ability in High School Seniors

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Abstract
To help explain female inferiority in mathematical performance, sex differences in personality correlates of mathematical ability were examined. Three instruments, Rotter's I-E Scale, Miller Adult Locus of Evaluation Scale, and Byrd's Attitude Concerning Life and Self were administered to measure four personality factors: locus of control, locus of evaluation, identity confusion associated with resolution of the adolescent identity crisis, and self-esteem. Each personality score was correlated separately by sex with Scholastic Aptitude Test mathematical and verbal scores. The sample included 68 females and 63 males, randomly selected from college-bound seniors in a predominantly white, middle-class, suburban high school, chosen to limit the effects of social, economic, racial and educational differences. Two variables were partialed out for control purposes: number of mathematics courses completed and IQ (Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test). For females only, internal locus of control and self-esteem were significant correlates of mathematical ability, and were seen as facilitators of female mathematical functioning in the face of environmental impediments to female mathematical performance.

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