The Relationship Between Personality Traits, Mindfulness and Sectoral Commitment of University Students Studying Tourism

Abstract

University education is a process in which students prepare themselves for their profession and begin to integrate with universal values. The study aims to determine the relationship between the personality traits, conscious awareness levels and commitment to the tourism sector of university students receiving tourism education. The research was carried out with the participation of a total of 255 students studying in the departments of Tourism and Hotel Management, Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Recreation Management and Tourist Guidance within two vocational schools and two faculties affiliated to Balıkesir University. The data were obtained by the survey method in April-May 2022. The results of the research show that there is a strong relationship between the personality traits of the students receiving tourism education and their mindfulness. The relationship between personality trait and commitment to the industry, and between mindfulness and commitment to the industry is moderately strong. In addition, the findings reveal that female students are more committed to the sector compared to male students, the commitment to the sector decreases as the age of the students increases, and the mindfulness and commitment of the undergraduate students to the sector is higher compared to the associate degree students.