PERSONALITY, BODY IMAGE, AND MEANING IN LIFE AMONG FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

The present study explored the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and body image and meaning in life among female university students in Pakistan, a collectivistic and appearance-conscious society where there is comparatively little empirical research in the personality and well-being literature. The correlational design was employed using a purposive sampling method, which included 200 female university students (18-26+) from public and private universities of Pakistan. The participants filled out the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, Body Image Scale, and the Questionnaire of Meaning in Life online. A correlational analysis revealed that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability (low neuroticism) were all significant predictors of overall meaning in life, with conscientiousness also being a significant predictor of the search-for-meaning subscale. A regression analysis revealed that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability (low neuroticism) each accounted for a significant amount of variance in overall meaning in life and current presence of meaning, and conscientiousness accounted for a significant amount of variance in the search-for-meaning subscale. The personality traits failed to significantly predict the body image scores. They are explained in the context of Five-Factor Theory, Steger's presence–search framework of meaning, and sociocultural theories of body image in relation to converging data from Western and East Asian samples as well as other South Asian samples. The potential implications for university counseling services, culturally responsive well-being interventions, and future longitudinal and mixed-gender studies in Pakistan are explored.