Emerging Late Adolescent Friendship Networks and Big Five Personality Traits: A Social Network Approach

TLDR

The study investigates how Big Five personality traits influence friendship selection among newly acquainted late adolescents. Using sociometric nominations and self‑rated personality data from 205 late adolescents collected over five time points, the authors applied the SIENA multilevel network model to assess trait effects on friendship formation. Friendship networks among newly acquainted students rapidly cohere within three months, then plateau, with extraverted students forming more ties, agreeable students being more sought after, and friendships tending to cluster around similar levels of agreeableness, extraversion, and openness.

Abstract

The current study focuses on the emergence of friendship networks among just-acquainted individuals, investigating the effects of Big Five personality traits on friendship selection processes. Sociometric nominations and self-ratings on personality traits were gathered from 205 late adolescents (mean age=19 years) at 5 time points during the first year of university. SIENA, a novel multilevel statistical procedure for social network analysis, was used to examine effects of Big Five traits on friendship selection. Results indicated that friendship networks between just-acquainted individuals became increasingly more cohesive within the first 3 months and then stabilized. Whereas individuals high on Extraversion tended to select more friends than those low on this trait, individuals high on Agreeableness tended to be selected more as friends. In addition, individuals tended to select friends with similar levels of Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness.