Abstract

This study investigated influence of gender on maladaptive behaviour of secondary school students in Imo State, Nigeria. Two hypotheses were posed to guide the study. The sample for the study consisted of 120 students randomly selected from three randomly selected senior secondary schools. Three instruments were used to collect data namely; Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRPS), Peer Pressure Questionnaire and Hare Psychopathy Checklist- Revised Scale (PCL-RS) with the reliability coefficient values of 0.89, 0.87 and 0.81 respectively. The data obtained were analysed using both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics suitable for each hypothesis. The result shows that the participants did not differ in proneness to maladaptive behaviour based on gender (F-cal = 0.13; p<0.05). The result also showed that there is no significant difference in proneness to maladaptive behaviour due to interaction of gender and experimental conditions. One of the recommendations was that parents shouldensure equal training to their children irrespective of their gender.