Personality Traits of Sex Workers

Abstract

Although numerous studies have looked at what lay people think of sex workers, comparatively few studies have directly looked at the sex workers themselves. The current study compared a cohort of predominantly female sex workers with a matched control across several personality constructs (including the Big Five, the Dark Triad, and Life History). Some of the observed differences in personality included higher scores of conscientiousness and higher scores of openness to experience in the sex worker group. The sex worker group also showed higher scores in machiavellianism. A variety of indicators of a faster Life History Strategy were also found in the sex worker cohort including an earlier age of first menarche and age of first drug use.