Personality characteristics in emerging adults engaging in sex work: a systematic review

TL;DR

This paper reviews how personality traits differ among young adults who engage in sex work compared to those who do not.

Contribution

The study systematically reviews personality characteristics in emerging adults involved in sex work, highlighting gaps in understanding.

Findings

Sex workers show lower agreeableness, self-efficacy, and self-esteem.

Higher impulsivity and antisocial traits are observed in sex workers.

More research is needed to understand personality changes due to sex work.

Abstract

Personality may influence whether emerging adults do or do not engage in sex work. In turn, sex work may affect personality development during this sensitive developmental time frame. This systematic review synthesizes literature on personality and sex work in emerging adults. Seven of the ten identified studies investigated personality differences between individuals engaging vs. not engaging in sex work, four examined personality characteristics of sex workers only. Results suggest lower agreeableness, self-efficacy, and self-esteem and higher impulsivity, trait aggression, and antisocial traits among sex workers. The scant literature highlights the need for additional research to disentangle selection and socialization effects and examine within-person personality changes due to different types of sex work to inform targeted supportive interventions. This systematic review was pre-registered in the PROSPERO database for systematic reviews (2023, October 10, registration number CRD42023402800).

Figures