The Relationship between Father Complex and Ones Personality among Students in United States International University- Africa

This study set out to establish the relationship between the father complex and one’s personality trait among students in United States International University – Africa. The study was conducted based on the following objectives: to find out the personality of youths at USIU-A, to assess the nature of the father complex of selected students and to determine the relationship between father complex and the respondents’ personality. The study was a survey that adopted a positivism philosophy which incorporated the descriptive research design. The sample size in the study, was 112 respondents. The study employed a stratified sampling technique because the population was divided into two main tiers i.e. students enrolled for graduate and undergraduate programs and the data was collected using two (2) structured questionnaires, the Big Five Inventory questionnaire (BFI) and the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised (ECR-RS) questionnaire. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study on the personality of the students enrolled in the psychology program at USIU-A using the BFI questionnaire found that the respondents predominantly exhibited Openness (M= 2.21, SD= 1.182), Neuroticism (M= 1.27, SD= 1.186) and Conscientiousness (M=1.37, SD=1.074). The results of the ECR-RS questionnaire showed that majority of the respondents, 81.2% had a positive father complex. The relationship between fathers complex and the respondents personality using a chi-square test of independence showed that the relationship between father complex and personality was not statistically significant (p= 0.248). Future researchers should consider involving fathers in the study as well, as this study only focused on children. There is also a need for future researchers to address the issue of whether, apart from the father complex, there could be other factors that affect a child’s personality.