Abstract:

This study aims to investigate the role of basic personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism, and negative valence) and self-esteem in predicting the triangular love among young adults who have been and who have not been in a romantic relationship with a sample composed of Turkish university students. The participants of this study include 895 (57% women, age range from 18 to 26) university students enrolled in several faculties of a state university in Turkey and were selected using convenient sampling. The participants were also separated into two groups. The first group was composed of 350 students (218 females; Mage = 21.85, SD = 1.99) who were involved in a romantic relationship and the second group was composed of 545 students (293 females; Mage =21.59, SD = 1.92) who were not involved in a romantic relationship. Participants completed the Turkish versions of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Basic Personality Traits Inventory, the Sternberg Triangular Love Scale and the Sternberg Triangular Love Scale-Modified. Data analysis was performed through the Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that while agreeableness, conscientiousness and negative valence of personality traits with self-esteem were the significant predictors of triangular love among young adults who were involved in a romantic relationship, only agreeableness and conscientiousness were the significant predictors of triangular love of university students who were not involved in a romantic relationship. The current research signifies the worth of examining relationships between triangular love and basic personality traits among young adults who were and who were not involved in a romantic relationship.

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