Peer Influence, Social Media Usage and Personality Type as Determinant of Assertiveness Skill among Secondary School Students in Ibadan North Local Government

Students are integral to the effective functioning of correctional institutions, ensuring safety, security, and the facilitation of rehabilitation programs. However, maintaining high levels of assertiveness skills among students has become a significant challenge. Therefore, the study examines peer influence, social media usage and personality type as determinant of assertiveness skill among secondary school students in Ibadan North LG. The study adopted a descriptive research design. A total of two hundred and fifty secondary school students in Ibadan North LGA was selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires consisting standardized scales was adopted. Five research questions were answered using percentages, frequency distribution, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis at 0.05 level of significant. The findings of the study showed that social media usage (r =.721, p<0.05), peer influence (r =.284, p<0.05) and personality type (r =.377, p<0.05) had significant relationship to assertiveness skills. All the independent variables jointly accounted for 56.7% variance in predicting assertiveness skills. Also, social media usage (β = .682, t= 14.845, p<0.05) and personality type (β = .248, t= 5.737, p<0.05) had significant relative contribution to assertiveness skills. While peer influence (β = -.037, t= -.810, p>0.05) had no significant relative contribution to assertiveness skills. The level of assertiveness skills is high (3,37<2.50) and there is no statistically significant difference in assertiveness skills between males and female (t-value (T): 0.853. It was recommended that educators and counselors should develop personalized programs tailored to different personality types to enhance assertiveness skills.