Scaling self identity with respect to perceived socio-cultural attitudes towards appearance and personality types among male and female adolescents in the age group of 16 to 25 years

Abstract

During adolescence, individuals all over the world constantly struggle to cope up with the way they identify with themselves. The objective of this study is to explore how self-identity is related to Perceived Socio-cultural Attitudes towards Appearance and the type of personality one has. Three standardised questionnaires (Socio-cultural Attitudes towards Appearance – 4 scale, Functions of Identity Scale and the Big Five Inventory) were distributed to a sample of 60 adolescents in the city of Mumbai. These adolescents were in the age group of 16-25 years. The results of the study showed insignificant correlation between Self-Identity with Perceived Socio-Cultural Attitudes towards Appearance in both genders. However, the subscale of Internalization (Thin/Low body fat) and Pressure (Media), Self-identity is negatively correlated with Internalization (Thin/Low body fat) and Pressures (Media) in females. The study also shows insignificant correlation between Self-Identity and Personality Types in both the genders among adolescents. However, in the subscale of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, Self-identity is positively correlated with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in female adolescents. Further, with respect to gender differences in Perceived Socio-Cultural Attitudes towards Appearance, there is a statistically significant relation among male and female adolescents for the subscale of Internalisation (Muscular/Athletic). However, other subscales show insignificant differences with respect to gender. Personality Types show no significant difference with respect to gender.