Personality Traits and Gender as Mediators in Friendly Interpersonal Relationships

Personality traits affect all facets of an individual’s interpersonal and intrapersonal life. Narcissism and Neuroticism are traits that are present in variable degrees in individuals. They have long been thought of as pathological when overpowering in a given personality. This is because both the traits are associated with negative qualities more than positive ones. This conception leads to the belief that people higher in narcissism or neuroticism would be incapable in maintaining healthy relationships in life. This study was aimed at testing the interpersonal competence of individuals after scoring them on narcissism and neuroticism. For the study three standardized questionnaires were employed: the big five version 2, the revised narcissistic personality inventory and the network of relationships inventory. Data was collected using online surveys using convenience sampling mixed with snowballing. The total number of participants after screening the data was 91 participants belonging to a similar educational background but varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The results however showed that out of the two personality traits only neuroticism did not affect the quality of relationships the individuals had with their respective attachment figures. In addition to the personality traits, gender was tested for differences in levels of neuroticism and narcissism as well as quality of peer relationships. The results for the second part too showed invariance.