THE TURKISH YOUTH IS SATISFIED WITH THEIR LOOKS
It has been reported that Turkey, among other European countries, is a country where youth is most satisfied with how they look. The European Union Project titled “EDGE: Education and Gender” studied the youth’s perception of their bodies in 6 European countries. According to the study, Turkish youth is 45% satisfied with their looks, followed by Austrian youth with 40.4 %, and Polish youth by 34.5 %. Hungarians have 33.3 % and Germans have 26 %. The country who is least happy with their looks is Norway with 15.7 %.
The Turkish part of the research was carried out by Asst. Prof. Dr. Nesrin Oruç Ertürk, Lecturer at IUE School of Foreign Languages Preparatory and Undergraduate/Associate Programs. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ertürk stated that the study aimed for youth to perceive themselves and others, and reveal the concept of beauty. She said, “444 young people between the ages of 13 – 16 from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Turkey participated in the study. Izmir University of Economics carried out the Turkish part of the European Union Project. We found out that majority of the European participants were satisfied with their looks. The answers by Polish, Austrian, and Turkish youth especially supported this outcome. The country that is least happy with their looks turned out to be Norway with 15.7 %.”
The youth is against the idea of hiding under clothes…
Ertürk said Austrian youth who did not agree with the phrase, ‘I try to hide my body with baggy clothes’, was 71.2%, Turks 61.7%, Polish 58.6%, Hungarians 55.6%, Germans 45.3%, and Norwegians 1.3%. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ertürk pointed out that the message by the media about individuals needing to take care of their bodies and physical looks affected the youth, and she said, the opinion regarding ‘good looking people have more chance in business world’ was agreed by the Polish youth the most with 79.3%. Germans agreed 68.7%, Austrians 67.3%, Hungarians 66.7%, Turks 63.3%, and Norwegians 40%. Ertürk stated the following:
“The Norwegians had the lowest agreement rate on the need for good looks. 77% of them stated that they did not like this phrase. On the other hand, 70% of Austrians, Germans, Hungarians, and Turkish participants agreed with the statement, ‘Extreme thin females and males in fashion and media world do not serve as models for me’. 86% of the Polish youth agreed with this phrase. The results played an important role in terms of how much the youth, born and raised in different countries and different cultures, got affected by body perceptions.”
Beauty is not worth a hill of beans!
60% of Turks, 59.6% Austrians, 54.6% Germans, 64.8 Hungarians, 53.5 Polish, and 21.4 Norwegians agreed with the opinion, “People need to have good looks in order to be successful”. 81.6% Hungarians, 74.7% Germans, 70.7% Polish, 55.8 Austrians, 46.7% Turks, and 47.2% Norwegians agreed with the opinion, “Beautiful people have easier lives”.
