Dyslexia and satisfaction with life: How does growing up with Dyslexia impact on a person's satisfaction with life and self-esteem?

Abstract

Dyslexia has unfortunately been very misunderstood, and has only recently begun to be recognised as a learning disability, with those diagnosed now being provided with various forms of additional support. However, is this additional support actually of benefit? Does growing up with dyslexia affect how people view themselves, and if so, is this a positive or negative view, and does this impact on their general measures of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem? These are a few of the questions explored in this research project. This study used standardised self-report questionnaires, the dependent variables being Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem. The first Independent Variable was the condition of Dyslexia, with two levels (dyslexic and non-dyslexic). Two further Independent Variables were those of the Big-Five Personality Traits, together with Positive and Negative Affect. The first hypothesis expected the study group (with dyslexia), to have lower Satisfaction with Life and Self-Esteem scores than the control group, (non-dyslexic). Secondly, it was hypothesised that the study group would show less emotional stability than the control group. A final hypothesis was that general measures of life satisfaction would be predictable from participants’ personality traits and affect scores. Results proved to be contrary to expectations, providing no evidence to suggest that measures of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem would be lower for dyslexic participants. Results did show, however, that personality traits such as Conscientiousness, Openness and Extroversion, together with Negative Affect do impact on general measures of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem for dyslexic participants, but have no effect for non-dyslexic participants.