Personality Traits and the Feeling of Loneliness of Post-Graduate University Students

Loneliness  as  a  psychological  phenomenon  is  a  state  of  mind  rather  than  an  objective condition.  Individuals  may  feel  lonely  while  totally  surrounded  by  others  or  may  be totally fine  on  their  own. The purpose of this research was to examine personality traits and the feeling of loneliness of post-graduate university students. For this purpose, a non-clinical sample of 60 post-graduate students (30 male and 30 female) from various disciplines in the age group of 21 to 24 years were administered NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3) and perceived loneliness scale. Correlation analysis showed that three Big Five personality dimensions which are openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness are negatively and moderately correlated with loneliness of post-graduate university students. However, significant differences were not found among male and female post-graduate university students on loneliness and Big Five personality dimensions. But since high level of mean scores of feeling of loneliness were found among both male and female post-graduate university students in this study, professionals need to pay attention to university students’ psychosocial state.