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Robert Tomšik
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Robert TOMŠIK
Constantine the Philosopher University, Faculty of Education, Department of Pedagogy, Dražovská 4, Post code: 949 74, Nitra,
Slovakia, email: robert.tomsik@ukf.sk
Abstract: Personality plays a significant role in influencing academic performance. As empirical evidence has been confir-
med, with increasing age individuals‘ personality traits have less effect on academic performance. In our study, the first grade
university students (N = 402) completed the Five Factor Inventory and reported their grade point average GPA. As the results
shows, only personality trait conscientiousness was positively related to academic performance GPA. Also, personality trait
conscientiousness has been shown as a statistically significant predictor of academic performance among university students
but explained only 2.7% of the variance in grade point average (GPA).
Keywords: Personality traits; Big Five; NEO FFI; Academic performance; Academic achievement
This study has been written under the project: UGAV/14/2018 Moderate impact of parenting styles and NEO-FFI personality
dimensions on motivation for choosing teaching as a profession.
1. Introduction
There is an international consensus that intelligence is an important predictor of academic performance. Still, recent research
showed that there are also non-cognitive factors responsible for high academic performance: family, parent education, financial
status (Englud, Luckner, Whaley & Egeland, 2004; Jovanović et al., 2010), gender (Eysenck & Cookson, 1969; In Sharma, 1985);
school (Sakač, 2008), characteristics of the personality (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003, 2003a; De Raad & Schouwen-
burg, 1996). Along with these, the personality is now an important factor studied in relationship with academic performance.
Cattell & Butcher have found that general intelligence, extrovert/introversion personality, strong super ego, compassion and
phlegmatic temperament are important factors for academic performance (Butcher, 1968; In Simonović, 2004), however, not for
all age groups of students. By summarizing empirical evidence, we have found that some personality traits, such as openness to
experience and agreeableness, do not have an impact on academic performance in adolescence, while the personality trait cons-
ciousness plays an important role in every age category of students. Based on that, we decided to test the impact of the Big Five
personality traits on the academic performance, expressed by the GPA, among university students.
, 2006). Both definitions understand the personality as being able to adapt to the environment. Therefore, the personality should
play a major role in adapting to the school environment and thereby achieving academic performance. Success or failure generally
expresses the relationship of an individual to certain activities, depending on how much he has achieved the established goal.
According to the vocabulary (Průcha, Walterová & Mareš, 1995), academic performance can mean that the pupils‘ requirements
are met by the pupils, which is reflected in the positive or negative assessment of the pupils‘ benefit and results from the teacher‘s
evaluation. On the other hand, school failure is when the pupils‘ performance does not meet these requirements (Kačáni, 1999).
Academic performance is still very much debated and still under-clarified term. This term has several alternatives: academic su-
54
ccess (Smidt, 2014), academic performance (Conrad, 2006) or academic achievement (Verešová, 2015). However, in most cases is
conceived as GPA, i.e. grade point average.
Some theoretical basis claims that the personality is one of the most important predictor of school success (Komarraju, Karau &
Schmeck, 2009). However, the personality factors that have an impact on school success are many. For example, according to
Kohoutek (2009), too extensive or too narrow extra-curricular interests can also be a source of school failure. Furthermore, Čáp &
Mareš (2001), among the risk factors of school failure, also include some temperamental characteristics – neuroticism, thinking
based not on reality, but on individual wishes, emotional peculiarities (hostile) individuals, developmental delay, illness, learning
disorders, behavioral disorders etc. (Čáp & Mareš, 2001). The influence of psychic qualities and processes – whether the pupil/
student will be successful or unsuccessful, depends on the pupil‘s abilities, character, responsibility, endurance and other perso-
nality traits (Čáp, 1983). However, as evidenced, not all personality traits have an impact on school success, as well as not in all
age groups of students.
These theoretical bases do not fit entirely into empirical frameworks (Tab. 1), especially Eysenck‘s claims. For example, it was
found that the personality trait extraversion at primary school did not correlate with academic performance (Laidra et al., 2006;
Laidra et al., 2007; Neuenschwander et al., 2013). Personality trait extraversion appeared to be a problematic factor in terms of
interpretation also for the sample of older students (age 10–18), where different results were found. For example, in most studies,
personality trait extraversion did not correlate with academic performance (e.g. Laidra et al., 2007; Zuffiano et al., 2013), while
in some studies it was in a positive correlation (e.g. Lounsbury et al., 2003) and in some negative correlation with school success
(e.g. Furnham & Monsen, 2009). Research by Furnham & Monsen (2009) therefore supports Eysenck‘s theory that introverts in
higher grades achieve better academic performance, while a study by Lounsbury et al. (2003) rebut this fact.
As for the Big Five model and adolescence, as good predictors of academic performance are personality traits conscientiousness
and openness to experience (Barbanelli et al., 2003). A student with a high level of personality trait conscientiousness has a gre-
at self-discipline, perseverance and focus on the goal. All of these factors are very important features to achieve great academic
performance; they are one of the constant predictors of high academic performance. Research in Estonia, conducted in the third,
fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth and twelfth grades, found that the best predictor of good academic performance was a high score in the
personality trait conscientiousness in all age categories. In addition to conscientiousness, important predictors are also openness
to experience and agreeableness. Following that, personality trait openness to experience is more important predictor in lower
grades. This can be explained by the fact that in these classes (when a child is just beginning to get to know the world around
him) is more open and curious than in the higher grades. Neuroticism negatively correlated with academic performance on all
age groups (Laidra et al., 2007). As far as the research carried out on the university student population, the results are not consi-
stent but point to the lack of impact of some personality dimensions on academic performance. Again, one of the most important
Robert TOMŠIK 55
predictors was conscientiousness and openness to experience. Negative correlation with neuroticism in this age category does not
appear. Likewise, there is no positive correlation with the personality trait agreeableness, while a positive correlation with the
personality trait of openness to experience has been proven only in some researches (e.g. Chomorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008,
Verešová, 2015), in most cases, among the student population, the predictor of academic performance was only conscientiousness
(Tab. 1).
From above mention researches and review studies, it is clear that by the age of the student or by changing the type of school to a
higher level, the personality traits lose importance in terms of academic performance. Based on previous research, we formulate
the following prediction (hypothesis) on the correlation between Big Five personality traits and academic performance GPA:
H1: We assume that there is a statistically significant correlation between personality trait conscientiousness and academic
performance GPA among university students.
Neuen- Laidra Laidra Lounsbu- Zuffiano Laidra Furnham Steinma- Laidra Paunonen Chomorro- Conard Hirsh & Dollin- Verešová
sch-wan- et al. et al. ry et al. et al. et al. & Monsen yr et al. et al. & Ashton -Premuzic (2006) Peterson ger et al. (2015)
der et al. (2007) (2006) (2003) (2013) (2007) (2009) (2011) (2006) (2001) & Furnham (2008) (2008)
Tab. 1: An overview of research on the relationship between Big Five personality dimensions and GPA.
(2013) (2008)
N 446 1435 430 290 170 2746 212 520 488 141 158 300 205 338 254
Age 8.10 9.40 10.40 12.60 13.47 14.90 15.80 16.94 17.80 19.20 19.21 19.48 21 21.90 23.25
Elemen- O ++ + ++
tary and
C + + ++
Primary
scho E 0 0 0
A 0 ++ ++
N - - -
Secondary O + ++ + 0 + +
and High
school C ++ + ++ + ++ ++
E + 0 0 - 0 0
A + 0 + 0 0 0
N - 0 - - - -
College O 0 + 0 0 0 +
and Uni-
versity C + ++ ++ ++ + ++
E 0 0 0 0 0 0
A 0 0 0 0 0 0
N 0 0 0 0 0 0
*Note: +. correlation is significant at .050 level,
++. correlation is significant at .010 level,
-. negative correlation is significant at .050 level.
56
Robert TOMŠIK 57
4. Research sample
The research sample consists of university students from Slovak universities from the following regions: Nitra, Bratislava, Banská
Bystrica, Prešov, Trenčín, Trnava and Žilina. In total 402 adolescents of the first year of bachelor studies were involved in the re-
search. In the academic year 2014/2015 was admitted to the first years around 3300 adolescents. According to the approximation
of Morgan and Krejcie (1970; In Tomšik, 2016), at least 346 respondents must be included in the set, with a percentage distri-
bution corresponding to the size of the basic set in each region. This criterion is fulfilled. A research sample consists of 119 male
and 266 female respondents (17 uncategorized), with an average age of 20.50 years. During research 500 questionnaires were
distributed, which means that the return of the questionnaires was 80.40 %.
5. Methods
NEO Five Factor (NEO FFI) is a personality inventory that examines a person‘s Big Five personality traits (openness to experien-
ce, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). The authors of the NEO FFI questionnaire are McCrae and
Costa (Slovak version by Ruisel & Halama, 2007). Cronbach‘s alpha of the questionnaire is 0.87 (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Questi-
onnaire consists of 60 items (Likert type), twelve for each personality dimension:
• Openness to experience: (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity,
• Conscientiousness: (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless). A tendency to be organized and dependable, show self-dis-
cipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
• Extraversion: (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved). Energy, positive emotions, surgency, assertiveness, sociability and
the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others, and talkativeness.
• Neuroticism: (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident). The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger,
anxiety, depression, and vulnerability.
Academic achievement GPA – a measure of a student‘s academic performance, calculated by dividing the total number of grade
points received by the total number attempted. Compared to the NEO FFI inventory, the GPA score is reversed and can range on
a scale from 1 to 3 (lower score represents better academic performance).
6. Data analysis
For the description of the research data, detecting associations between variables and for detecting differences between research
groups were used statistic programs SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science ver. 20) and STAT 13. MCAR test (Little‘s Mi-
ssing Completely at Random) was used to verify the missing data. After assuring that the data in the file is missing randomly, the
Missing Value Analysis (Expectation-Maximization) method was applied to replace the missing data. To verify the normality of
the research data the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. To determine the correlation between personality traits and academic
achievement, we used the Pearson coefficient of correlation, while we used linear regression analysis, based on a Breusch-Pagan
test of homoscedasticity, to determine the impact of personality traits on academic performance (GPA).
7. Results
Table 2 presents descriptive statistics of personality traits and academic performance among research sample. Observing only the
average score, we find that the students have reached the highest average score in the personality trait conscientiousness (M =
31.82). Approximately one-and-a-half points below were scaled personality traits extraversion (M = 30.14) and agreeableness (M
= 30.07). The lowest average scores were achieved in personality traits openness (M = 27.99) and neuroticism (M = 22.28). Com-
58
pared to the standards presented by Ruisel & Halama (2007) in the handbook, we do not notice significant differences compared
to the scores that were measured on our sample. For the age group of individuals aged 15–24, the authors report the following
average scores for individual personality traits: neuroticism M = 21.87; extraversion M = 30.05; openness to experience M =
29.45; agreeableness M = 29.69 and conscientiousness M = 29.45. The biggest differences are in personality traits openness to
experience and conscientiousness, where students of our research sample have reached about one point higher score compared
to norms. Other scores are comparable.
*Note: N- number; M- mean; MIN- minimum score; MAX- maximum score; SEM- standard error of the mean; SD- standard
deviation; S– skewness; C– kurtosis.
Table 3 summarizes the Pearson correlations between academic performance GPA and Big Five personality traits. The results
show that significant positive correlations were obtained between academic performance GPA and conscientiousness (r = -.173,
Sig. < .010). However, no significant correlation was found between academic performance GPA and other personality traits of
Big Five model.
Tab. 3: Correlation between academic performance GPA and Big Five personality traits among university students.
GPA 2 3 4 5 6
Academic achieve- Pearson Correlation 1 -.034 -.173 .015 -.044 .049
ment GPA
Sig. .512 .001 .770 .401 .340
Sig.
Before applying linear regression analysis, we confirmed the homoscedasticity of data using Breusch-Pagan test (chi = 4.680; Sig.
= .321). Table 4 shows that independent variable (conscientiousness) significantly predicted academic performance of the par-
ticipants. In other words, personality trait conscientiousness made significant contribution (β = -.173, t = -3.389; Sig. < .001) to
academic performance GPA, where higher conscientiousness increases the GPA. The value of R2 (adjusted) = .027 indicated that
conscientiousness accounted for 2.70% of the total variance in academic performance GPA of university students.
Robert TOMŠIK 59
8. Discussion
This study was carried out to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, ope-
nness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness) and students‘ academic performance (GPA). Assumptions for this
study are based on the recent empirical evidences that reported the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and GPA.
Research was made on a sample of teacher training students and we found that among all personality dimensions, conscienti-
ousness is the only dimension that correlates with GPA, and that conscientiousness is the only personality trait that predicts GPA
among university students.
There is clearly empirical evidence (e.g. Hirsh & Peterson, 2008; Chomorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008; Laidra et al., 2006;
Laidra et al., 2007; Verešová, 2015) proving that personality trait has less impact on academic performance with increasing age of
students. We assume that this is due to the organization and system of education in our region. Rising to higher levels of education,
teachers are losing closer contact with students, teaching is not as personal like at elementary or primary school, and specifically
at colleges the teacher and student relationship is more formal. For this reason, the teacher does not have the opportunity to get
to know the students more closely and to assess their personality characteristics (for example, whether the individual is neurotic
or emotionally stable, open to experience or not interested in studies, etc.). The only feature that plays an important role in higher
education is conscientiousness, since conscientious students fulfill their duties more rigorously than easy-going students.
It‘s questionable whether it is important for the teacher to recognize the personality qualities of the students or not. We assume
that this depends on the study program and professional profile of graduate. As Kasačová (2004) state, the teacher, for the succe-
ssful performance of the teaching profession, should have an personal characteristics, such as self-confidence, creativity, healthy
self-confidence, purposefulness, responsibility, emotional stability, patience, flexibility, sophistication, persuasiveness, conscious-
ness, optimism, foresight; social characteristics: communicativeness, sociability, tolerance, accepting others, empathy, respect for
others, agreeableness, affiliation, sense of humor, consideration, justice, love for children, prosociality; and ethical characteristics:
altruism, congruence, honesty and straightness. These characteristics are very difficult to examine without the teacher‘s personal
contact with the students. Although the Big Five model does not include all the personality traits that are included in the compe-
tency models (e.g. Kasačová, 2004), nevertheless Big Five model is a good indicator of work success and job satisfaction so the
results of such studies should not be unnoticed. Because personality traits are variable in a certain way and can be developed to
a certain extent, study programs, whose graduates should have certain personality qualities, should give greater emphasis on the
personality characteristics of students during the process of accepting students on university studies, and greater emphasis on
development of personal qualities.
9. Conclusion
A study was carried out to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and teacher trainee students‘ academic
performance (GPA). While research finds significant correlation and prediction only between personality trait conscientiousness
and GPA, there is a need for better acquaintance of the student personality by teachers for adequate development of student per-
sonal qualities.
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