The relationship between self-perception of smile aesthetics and personality traits of university students: A cross-sectional study

This study aims to determine the relationship between self-perception of smile aesthetics and personality traits of first-year undergraduate students at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. This study used an observational design, and an electronic research form distributed via the institutional email addresses of the first-year undergraduate students enrolled at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in 2021. The forms include four sections: informed consent, personal data, questions about self-perception of smile aesthetics (the SPIRQoL questionnaire), and questions about personality traits (the Revised NEO-FFI questionnaire). The data gathered from the forms were analyzed using the chi-squared test and the student's t-test. Of the 338 students, 55.9 % were females, and 44.1 % were males. The mean age of the student respondents was 20.5 ± 1.7 years. A relationship was observed between self-perception of smile aesthetics and personality traits (p < 0.05). In general, the majority of respondents (91.7 %) had a positive self-perception of their smiles, while the remaining respondents (8.3 %) had a negative self-perception. In particular, 36.69 % of respondents were satisfied with and confident about their smiles, and 48.82 % of respondents had never been socially judged because of their smiles. In addition, 64.50 % of respondents had never experienced offense or discrimination because of their smiles, and the majority of respondents (46.8 %) obtained an average score in personality traits. In other words, the students were open to suggestions, able to express their opinions, respectful of others, willing to embrace change, and capable of adapting to such change. Specifically, 82.6 % of those who obtained a low score in personality traits had a positive self-perception, and so do 94.3 % of those with an average score. Besides, 96.6 % of those who obtained a high score in personality traits had a positive self-perception. Nevertheless, no significant difference was observed between sexes (p > 0.05). The majority of students who had a positive self-perception of their smile obtained an average score in personality traits. Studies on self-perception of smile and personality traits must be further explored in large populations and specific age groups.