Personality study in profoundly deaf adults

The difference with which the pre-lingual and post-lingual profoundly deaf confront their deafness is evident: the reticence of many pre-lingual deaf persons when faced with technological advances and genetic investigations is not present among the post-lingual deaf. This article looks at this difference from the person as a whole, and aims to carry out a comparative study of the personalities of both groups and of the non-deaf. To this end, three samples were taken (one of pre-lingual deaf persons, one of post-lingual deaf persons and a third of non-deaf persons) and the Mini-Mult personality questionnaire was employed as a measuring instrument. Significant differences were found in 5 clinical scales: Hs (hypochondria), Hy (hysteria), Pa (paranoia), Pt (psychastenia), Sc (schizophrenia). The differences between the deaf and the non-deaf are statistically significant. The profile obtained for the pre-lingual deaf is high on the schizophrenia scale (Sc), and suggests a kind of person where the said scale might detect isolation derived from deafness. The profile of the post-lingual deaf, marked by the hypochondria scale, shows persons with severe hypersensibility and fears regarding their state of health. The significant influence of variables such as level of education and state of employment on the post-lingual deaf and, in particular, on his feeling of loneliness and his worries regarding his deafness, his state of mind and his possible paranoiac tendencies, makes them factors that must be taken into consideration when fundamentally evaluating the personality of a post-lingual deaf person. These personality traits influence the way a profoundly deaf person confronts his deafness.