28. The Effects of Diverse Personality Characteristics of Teachers on Professional Satisfaction: A Sample of Mersin City

Personality characteristics are a combination of psychological and physical features that differ among human beings. Humans’ personality characteristics are closely related with the professions they carry out. Under suitable conditions, a person chooses a job that conforms with his or her own personality. Occupational selections are realized at a time when personality has just been formed and a chaotic setting covers the inner world of the individual. Some professions, among which teaching profession comes first, cannot be carried out through ignoring personality characteristics. Teachers must be aware of both their own personality characteristics and the characteristics their profession requires. Adaptation to such a condition is to provide high professional motivation and professional satisfaction, as well as creating well-trained individuals educated by teachers in relation to a relatedly proper society. On the other hand, maladaptation to such a condition is to create a teacher profile in which there is no professional satisfaction and no success in social role. Teachers having different personality characteristics will also represent diversities in their professional satisfaction. Issuing from the above premise, this study is conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of different personality characteristics owned by teachers on their professional satisfaction. The relationship between diverse personality characteristics of teachers and their professional satisfaction is identified with reference to different variables. The study is based on a survey design. The sample of the study is composed of 516 primary and secondary school teachers employed in Mersin city centre and its connected counties. The data of the study are collected by scales on personality characteristics and professional satisfaction. The data transferred into the computer are analysed and interpreted by means of statistical techniques. According to the results, the teachers are found to be extrovert, responsible, open to innovations, and calm. Besides, there exists a significant relationship between the personality characteristics and the professional satisfaction of teachers. It is also detected that there is a positive correlation between the professional satisfaction of teachers and their extroversion, responsibility, tender mindedness, and openness to experiences, while there stands a negative correlation between the professional satisfaction and emotional instability. The results of the study present an existing relationship between the professional satisfaction of teachers and their personality characteristics, as well as their demographic features.