BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS AND CURIOSITY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Author

Sonal Mulyan, Kartik Kadian, Jassanjot Kaur


Abstract

 Curiosity is an important psychological trait, and it is associated with exploration, learning, engagement with novelty and intellectual development. Individual differences in curiosity can be partly explained by stable personality traits, particularly those dimensions that are part of the Big Five model of personality. The current research explored the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and curiosity in college students. The design was quantitative cross-sectional correlational. Participants. One hundred two adult college students were recruited through online survey platforms, university network, and social media. Personality was measured with the Big Five Inventory-44 (BFI-44) and curiosity was measured with the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II (CEI-II) which measures exploration and absorption. Associations between personality dimensions and curiosity were examined using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlations. Results showed curiosity was positively correlated with extraversion, conscientiousness and openness to experience and not significantly correlated with agreeableness and neuroticism. The results suggest that curiosity may be particularly linked to personality characteristics that include experiencing, actively exploring, and engaging in goal-directed action. The study contributes to the understanding of individual differences in curiosity in a student population and suggests that it may be of relevance to educational and developmental contexts. Future studies should employ larger and more diverse samples, longitudinal designs, stronger psychometric reporting, and other developmental outcomes.


Keywords

Big Five personality, curiosity, exploration, absorption, openness to experience, college students, personality traits



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References


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