International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Big Five Personality Traits and Attitude towards the Same Gender Relationships among University Students in Nairobi County, Kenya

Wambua Pius Muasa (PhD)
Institute of Youth Studies, School of Arts and Social Sciences
Tangaza University College, Catholic University of Eastern Africa

Abstract: The objective this study was to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and attitude towards the same gender relationships among University students in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study employed a correlational research design using a simple random sampling technique. The study adopted a sample size of 294 number of participants. The data was collected using the Big Five Inventory Scale and Attitude towards Homosexuality Scale. The data was analyzed using regression analysis. The findings of the study reported only two personality traits had positive and significant predictive relationship with attitude towards the same gender relationships which were agreeableness (β=.513, p<.05) and conscientiousness (β=.326, p<.05). Agreeableness personality trait showed positive attitude to lesbians (β=.0.275, p≤.05) whereas those with conscientiousness personality trait showed positive attitude towards gay men (β=0.206, p<.05). On the other hand, extraversion, neuroticism and openness traits showed insignificant negative relationship with attitude towards the same gender relationships. The study recommends the future studies to replicate the same study with students from public universities in Nairobi Kenya to confirm the findings of this study. Also, future studies may consider using qualitative or mixed method approaches in order to have a wider understanding of influence of the Big Five personality traits on attitude towards the same gender relationships among the University students.

I.INTRODUCTION

The Big Five model of personality is a model that was developed with an aim to understanding individual differences of psychologically healthy people in terms of their thinking, feeling and behaviour (Baumert et al., 2019). According to Fajkowska and Kreitler, (2018), traits are dimensions of personality that include intrapersonal and interpersonal differences of an individual person with other people. The Big Five model of personality is widely used across many languages and cultures and captures personality traits such as neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness (Allik et al., 2017). People who are extroverted are outgoing and tend to connect with others easily and people enjoy their company compared to those who are introverted. They are friendly people and demonstrate assertiveness in their interaction with others. They enjoy taking leadership responsibilities and people feel comfortable with them because they are lively and charming. People with neuroticism trait tend to manifest high levels of emotional reactivity and low tolerance to stress.