Personality as a Predictor of the Quality of Online Friendships
Abstract
The present study involved an online survey which examined whether certain personality traits could be used as predictors for the formation of online friendships and the quality of said friendships. Specific personality traits that the study focused on included Extraversion, Agreeableness, Trust, Curiosity, Vulnerability, and Self-Consciousness. Friendships are important to a majority of people's lives creating psychological benefits for individuals involved in positive and healthy friendships. Research has shown that personality traits such as extraversion and agreeableness can help cultivate healthy friendships (Berry, Willingham, & Thayer, 2000). The current study focused on these two personality traits in addition to others in hopes of determining if personality played a role in the formation of online friendships and if these friendships consisted of high positive qualities. Results showed that there was not a strong significant relationship between the personality model and friendship quality of participants with online friends. However, there were trends of correlations between certain personality traits and also correlations between personality traits and the subscales of the Friendship Quality scale, which may lead to further research in the future involving the components of online friendships.