Guest Author - Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen

Your personality traits are powerful. For instance, some researchers believe that a "cancer personality" exists – your characteristics actually create toxins that work against your immune system, leaving you defenseless against certain diseases. If you're a "nice" person who doesn't express anger, frustration, or stress appropriately, you could damage your health.

The Big Five Traits are:

1. Conscientiousness. You're organized and disciplined, dedicated and loyal – especially at work. Excellent performances and strong commitments are your standard.

2. Agreeableness. You're friendly, pleasant and easy to be around; your relationships are mostly strong. You're a social creature, and get your energy from being around other people.

3. Neuroticism. You worry. You're often anxious and emotionally unstable. You're more likely to struggle with depression and sadness.

4. Openness. You love adventures and trying new things; you're insightful and imaginative. Creativity adds spice to your life, and you're not afraid to take risks.

5. Extraversion. You're assertive, talkative, and don't mind being the centre of attention (in fact, you prefer it!). Being alone isn't your favorite activity; in fact, the more the merrier.

Does your personality affect your body image? I couldn't find solid research evidence of how the Big Five personality traits affect self-perception (if you're aware of a study or article, please forward it to me!). However, I will extrapolate based on the heaps of evidence that other characteristics lead to a negative body image.

For instance, the following "personality traits" are associated with poor body image:
• perfectionism
• compulsiveness
• expectations for high achievement
• low self-esteem
• feelings of helplessness
• fear of becoming fat

The problem is, I'm not convinced those are personality traits. Feelings of helplessness, fear of getting fat, and low self-esteem aren't part of your personality – they're feelings and states of mind, and they can change daily. Your personality is who you are: extraverted, neurotic, agreeable, etc., and you don't change day to day (though research shows that you do change over time). Perfectionism and compulsiveness seem the closest to "real" personality traits because they're logically connected to body image issues (eg., if you tend towards perfection, you may be unhappy with your body no matter what you actually look like).

Regarding body image and the Big Five, it seems logical that neurotic people are the most likely to struggle. Anxiety and depression have been connected with body image issues, and a person who worries in general may be more prone to worry about her own appearance. You'd think extraverts would be unlikely to struggle with body image – but I know that's not true. Just because you enjoy the centre of attention doesn't mean you don't struggle with your appearance. Agreeable people could be the least likely to struggle, simply because of their easy-going and accepting nature. Openness doesn't seem to lend itself to body image issues, either (the tendency towards taking risks and trying new things seems opposed to struggling with body perceptions).

Maybe there is no correlation between the Big Five and body image; perhaps that's why I wasn't successful in finding research! Maybe body image is more affected with outside influences like your family, magazines, movies, and billboards than the Big Five traits.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this article, please email me or post your opinions on the Body Image forum.