The impact of tourist guides' personality traits on success and happiness

This study was conducted with the aim of examining the effects of tourist guides' personality traits on their subjective career success and happiness levels. The population of the study consisted of professional tourist guides who actively practice the profession of tourist guiding in Türkiye. In the selection of the sample, the convenience sampling technique—one of the non-probability sampling methods—was preferred. In the study, which adopted a quantitative research design, the survey method was used as the data collection tool. The survey form consisted of four sections, which included the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, the Subjective Career Success Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and a personal information form. The survey was conducted through Google Forms between February and March 2025 and the data acquired from a total of 442 active tourist guides were analyzed using SPSS program. Independent samples t-tests were used for comparisons between two groups, while one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparisons involving more than two groups. The relationships between personality traits, happiness level, and subjective career success were examined using Pearson correlation analysis; mediation effects were analyzed through Process analysis, and causal effects were investigated using regression analysis. The findings indicated that tourist guides exhibited high levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience and agreeableness, whereas their levels of neuroticism were low. The overall happiness levels of the guides were found to be middle-upper high, while their perceptions of subjective career success were at a high level. It was determined that extraversion and conscientiousness dimensions exhibited significant relationships positive with both happiness and subjective career success. According to demographic variables, it was found that female guides scored higher than males in conscientiousness and growth and development, and that married guides and those with children had higher levels of extraversion and happiness. The results indicate that tourist guides' personality traits play a determining role in professional performance, career development, and psychological well-being. Accordingly, it is recommended that personality traits be systematically considered in the planning of training processes, human resources policies, and professional support programs within the guiding profession. This study empirically presented a holistic model of the relationship between personality traits, subjective career success, and happiness among active tourist guides, thereby operationalizing the personality–success–happiness interaction at a professional level for the first time in the literature.