Engagement in Tourism and Personality Traits among Ukrainian Adolescents.

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to determine if there is an association between personality traits and engagement in tourism among Ukrainian adolescents. The study population consisted of 1075 adolescents and their mothers/caregivers who participated in the Family and Children of Ukraine birth cohort study. The adolescents self-reported how they prefer to spend their leisure time and also completed the revised Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). We found that engagement in tourism was significantly associated with better school performance and higher socioeconomic status. Adolescents who engage in tourism also had significantly higher Extraversion and lower Neuroticism scores on the EPI. The associations of tourism engagement with these personality traits remained significant after adjusting for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and school performance. We conclude that personality traits are important predictors of Ukrainian adolescents’ engagement in tourism.