An investigation into the relationship between the five factor personality traits and body perception and life satisfaction levels in young adult individuals

"Why are human beings different each others?" and more specifically, "Why do human beings display different reactions to the same incident?" –these are questions that have been deemed significant throughout the history of psychology, and have constantly been studied in the field of personality. Throughout history, thinkers and scientists have produced hypotheses, and developed different definitions and approaches regarding the concept of personality. Even today, no consensus has been reached on the definition of personality, and there are different theories of personality defining the concept. However, when the common elements of these definitions are taken into consideration, it is possible to define personality as "the totality of consistent and structured traits, specific to each individual, setting each individual apart from others". In recent years, psychologists have focused on what has come to be known as the five factor personality structure. The five factor model of personality is about the five broad dimensions of personality, and the specific personality traits they involve. The generally accepted five factor model takes into consideration individual differences and applies a significant taxonomy of personality traits. The five fundamental factors of the model are: extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Another aspect which forms the basis of this investigation is body perception, and is also closely related to personality. A depressive personality, lack of self-confidence and a perfectionist personality pattern have all been linked to negative attitudes regarding body perception. Body perception as a whole consist of individual's appearance, bodily functions and perception related to other qualities. Inner sensations, imagination, experience and feedback from others contribute to the shaping of this perception. By the end of adolescence, individuals are expected to have successfully completed the goals of realizing a social role appropriate to their gender, establishing close relationships with both genders, reaching emotional independence, establishing a moral system, preparation for professional career and forming a family and accepting their bodies; therefore, in view of such expectations, body perception, in relation to bodily satisfaction, occupies an important place regarding the mental health of the individual. Especially in recent years, with the added influence of the media, specialists have been confronted with a multitude of problems based on negative body perception in individuals. There is no doubt that the investigation of the abovementioned multitude of problems in tandem with personality traits and life satisfaction will introduce a fresh viewpoint and make a positive contribution to literature in the field. Pleasure and satisfaction from life constitute an important aspect of the individual's life. Expectations from life, desires and needs are all within the scope of satisfaction. Thus, life satisfaction is the sensation as a result of the comparison between what the individual wants to possess, and what the individual does possess. An assessment regarding life satisfaction is one of the fundamental indicators of psychological well-being not only among adults but also among young people. Along such lines, the main objective of this thesis is to investigate the nature of the impact of five factor personality traits on body perception and life satisfaction. There are independent studies on these variables, however, there are few if any which focus on collective impact of these variables. In the light of this background information; the first chapter of this thesis will feature the introduction, the identification of the problem, the objective of the study, the methodology of the investigation and a unit plan. The second chapter of the thesis firstly focuses on the concept of personality, examines the various definitions of personality according to different theories, then concluding in the definition of the five factor structure. Each variable constituting the five factor structure is explained, and its opposite poles are presented. The third chapter of the thesis addresses body perception and life satisfaction, the other fundamental issues of the thesis. In this framework, first a conceptual viewpoint is developed regarding the phenomenon of body perception, and this is then followed up by an examination of the dimensions of body perception and influencing factors. Further in the chapter, the concept of life satisfaction is discussed, while factors influencing this concept are explained in view of related theories. The fourth chapter of the thesis addresses is based on a survey conducted to measure the reflection of the theoretical assumptions outlined in chapters two and three. The survey was carried out with 370 students at Istanbul Arel University. The chapter presents the extensive findings of the study. Finally, the last chapter of the study presents the results of the survey. According to the findings of the survey, there is a meaningful relationship between five factor personality traits, body perception and life satisfaction on the one hand, and various demographical traits (gender, age, parents' education levels and perceived economic level of the family) on the other hand. In the final section of the thesis, the results of the survey are presented and interpreted in view of previous research in the same field.