Which factors best account for academic success: Those which college students can control or those they cannot?

This study integrates research linking academic performance with individual differences and class attendance. Whereas individual differences (ability, traits) are not controllable by students, students can control their attendance, study and work. Thus we sought to determine the extent to which “control” and “no control” variables predict academic performance. With N = 338, measures of verbal ability, the five-factor model, GPA, academic goals, and study behavior were used to predict exams, attendance, and independent projects completed. Uncontrollable factors accounted for 37% of the variance in exam scores; controllable factors accounted for an additional 6–10%. We also found an interaction such that, relative to low-ability peers, high-ability students’ attendance most enhanced their exam performance. Attendance was best accounted for by GPA, study and work. Projects were best predicted by low verbal ability and by personality traits.     

The relationship between objective and perceived fit with academic major, adaptability, and major-related outcomes

This study examined the effects of fit with college major on major commitment, GPA, college satisfaction, and changing one’s major. We further examined how individual adaptability may moderate the importance of fit on these outcomes. College students (N = 198; 160 women and 38 men; mean age = 19.14 years) completed an interest inventory used to assess objective fit with major, and also indicated their perceived fit with major. Results revealed little correlation between perceived fit and objective fit, with differential relationships to these outcomes. Perceived fit showed stronger positive correlations with affective major commitment and academic self-efficacy than did objective fit. Regarding the moderating role of adaptability, individuals higher in adaptability reported higher institutional satisfaction when there was lower perceived fit. Adaptability also had a main effect on major-related outcomes above and beyond the effects of fit. Practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.     

Comparing self-esteem and perceived control as predictors of first-year college students’ academic achievement

Due to its widespread popularity, self-esteem is continually being promoted to students despite limited empirical support for its effectiveness in improving their academic achievement. As a result, constructs that are potentially more salient to academic performance, such as perceived control, have gone relatively unnoticed. Although past research has examined the link between students’ academic achievement and either their self-esteem or perceived control, few studies have compared both constructs simultaneously to elucidate which one is more important to academic success. This longitudinal study directly contrasted the effects of self-esteem and perceived control on the academic performance of 802 first-year college students. After accounting for incoming ability (high school grades), age, and gender, a structural equation model showed perceived control positively predicted students’ GPA. In contrast, the predictive effect of self-esteem on GPA was non-existent. Findings indicate that compared to self-esteem, perceived control is a more powerful predictor of first-year college students’ GPA. Implications for utilizing educational interventions to boost perceived control among college students are discussed.     

A longitudinal test of social cognitive career theory's academic persistence model among Latino/a and White men and women engineering students

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory's (SCCT) academic persistent model among engineering students from a longitudinal perspective and examined whether relations among the variables in the model differed between Whites and Latinos/as and between men and women engineering majors. Three hundred fifty engineering student participants (172 Latino/as; 155 Whites; 23 mixed race) who were attending a Hispanic-serving institution in the Southwest completed measures of math/science ACT, college GPA, engineering self-efficacy, engineering goals, and persistence. The academic persistence model within the engineering domain provided an excellent fit to the data. Significant group differences between women and men were found; however, there were no group differences across ethnicity. Implication for further research and interventions based on SCCT's academic persistence model are discussed in relation to academic persistence in engineering for women and Latinos/as.     

The interest-major congruence and college success relation: A longitudinal study

The relation of interest-major congruence to indicators of college success was examined in an initial sample of 80, 574 individuals enrolled in 87 colleges. Both college achievement (GPA after 1 year, after 2 years and at graduation) as well as persistence (enrollment status after 1 year, after 2 years and graduation after 5 years) were used as criteria of college success. Two different representations of interest-major congruence were examined: Euclidean distance and angular agreement. The incremental validity of these two congruence indices above that of standardized academic skills tests (i.e., ACT scores) was examined for each of the six criteria using mixed level modeling so that institutional differences could be examined. Results indicated that both types of congruence were predictors of each of the GPA criteria regardless of institutional differences. However for the enrollment criteria, the overall level of interest scores was found to moderate the congruence-enrollment relation. Congruence for individuals with low overall interest level but not for individuals with high overall interest levels was predictive of persistence. Findings point to the importance of interest-major congruence in the college outcome process, but also highlight the complexity of the congruence-outcome relation.     

Revisiting the predictive validity of emotional intelligence: self-report versus ability-based measures

In response to general press assertions that training emotionally intelligent children will lead to great rewards, this study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic achievement in college students, using both self-report and ability-based measures of EI. Specifically, the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT, an ability-based measure) and the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i, a self-report measure) were used to predict academic achievement. Achievement was operationalized as the respondents’ cumulative GPA. Results indicated that EI is not a strong predictor of academic achievement regardless of the type of instrument used to measure it. However, a construct validity examination revealed that the MSCEIT correlated highly with indices of cognitive ability but minimally with personality dimensions. In contrast, the EQ-i failed to correlate with indices of cognitive ability but correlated substantially with numerous personality dimensions.     

Assessing mental flexibility with a new word recognition test

This paper presents the development and preliminary evaluation of a new word recognition test (WRT) designed to measure individual differences in mental flexibility, defined as the ability to solve novel problems in unfamiliar settings. Conceptually designed to simulate problem solving in real world performance situations, the test was developed to recruit fluid and reproductive abilities and the interplay between convergent and divergent thinking. It is based on a framework that integrates and extends previous theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of cognitive ability and creative cognition. The WRT was administered with various cognitive ability and criterion measures to an undergraduate student sample (n = 266). Results provide preliminary evidence of construct validity. WRT scores correlated as expected with reference measures of cognitive ability, creative performance, and college performance (GPA). Regression analyses showed the WRT explained an additional 4.5% of variance in college performance over and above traditional cognitive ability measures that take up to five times as long to administer. Results suggest further study is warranted given the potential for its contribution to basic research and applied use.     

Aptitude is not enough: How personality and behavior predict academic performance

The study investigated the incremental validity of Big Five personality traits for predicting academic criteria (college GPA, course performance) while controlling for academic ability (SAT). Results showed that conscientiousness incrementally predicted each criterion over SAT. Results also showed that behavior (attendance) incrementally predicted GPA and course performance and it mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and both academic criteria. Personality measures are promising predictors of academic outcomes and they may have usefulness in admissions and student development.     

Social cognitive career theory, conscientiousness, and work performance: A meta-analytic path analysis

We performed a meta-analytic path analysis of an abbreviated version of social cognitive career theory's (SCCT) model of work performance (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The model we tested included the central cognitive predictors of performance (ability, self-efficacy, performance goals), with the exception of outcome expectations. Results suggested that a slightly modified version of the model, incorporating a path between ability and goals, provided adequate fit to the data. In addition, we examined alternative pathways through which conscientiousness, a Big 5 personality variable, might operate in concert with the social cognitive variables in predicting work performance. Good fit was found for a model in which conscientiousness is linked to performance both directly and indirectly via self-efficacy and goals. The implications of these results for SCCT, future research, and practical efforts to facilitate work performance are discussed.     

Perceived fit with an academic environment: Attitudinal and behavioral outcomes

Because person–organization fit relates to important outcomes, and because fit is a time-dependent process, there exists a need to model longitudinal data related to fit. In a multi-university sample (N = 1174), we tested hypotheses concerning person–organization fit and various behavioral and attitudinal outcomes; correlations between changes in these variables over time, and the correlates of these changes. Using autoregressive modeling and latent growth curve modeling, results indicated that academic fit leads to academic satisfaction, which in turn leads to turnover intent, and to a lesser extent GPA and class absenteeism. Changes in academic fit correlated highly with similar changes in satisfaction and GPA and with opposite changes in turnover intent. Academic satisfaction did not correlate with subsequent organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as predicted; changes across these domains were significantly related, but were small. Consistent with our hypotheses, Realistic interests correlated negatively with changes in academic fit and satisfaction. Investigative interests were correlated positively with changes in fit and initial satisfaction levels. We conclude by discussing implications, limitations, and future research concerning the longitudinal analysis of person–organization fit.     

Applying social cognitive career theory to predict interests and choice goals in statistics among Spanish psychology students

This study investigated the usefulness of social cognitive career theory—SCCT (Lent, Brown, and Hackett, 1994) in predicting interests and goals relating to statistics among psychology students. The participants were 1036 Spanish students who completed measurements of statistics-related mastery experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests and goals/intentions. Structural equation modeling (including multi-group analysis) was used to test the fit of the hypothesized models to the data. Results indicated support for SCCT as a way to predict students' interests in statistics and their intentions of engaging in academic or professional activities where statistics is used. Collectively, the predictors accounted for 50% of the variance in interests and for 77% of the variance in goals. Implications both for future research on SCCT and for intervention in statistics education are discussed.     

Academic Performance and Perceived Validity of Grades: An Additional Case for Self-Enhancement

Abstract

The authors investigated the role of academic self-esteem and academic performance in U.S. college students' perceptions of the validity of their grades (overall grade point average [GPA]). A sample of 208 (80 male, 128 female) college students completed a survey that included an academic self-esteem scale and a measure of the perceived validity of grades. The authors assessed academic performance level by the participants' actual overall GPAs. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported the weak form of self-enhancement theory (J. S. Shrauger, 1975). Thus, regardless of their self-esteem levels, the students with higher GPAs, compared with those with lower GPAs, tended to see the overall GPA as a more valid indicator of academic ability.     

Conscientiousness and self-motivation as mutually compensatory predictors of university-level GPA

To help account for variability across studies in the predictive utility of conscientiousness, we proposed that conscientiousness and self-motivation mutually compensate for each other in predicting university-level academic performance. Consistent with this expectation, we found evidence of such mutual moderation in a sample of 377 college undergraduates. First, we found that conscientiousness and self-motivation compensated for each other in predicting university GPA: Students who were either high in conscientiousness or high in self-motivation had better academic performance (GPA) than those who were low in both conscientiousness and self-motivation. Second, these findings were still evident after we controlled for the students’ previous academic performance (high school rank) and academic ability (SAT/ACT). The study of mutually compensatory predictors not only offers the potential of developing better predictive models; it also helps to account for why some “main effect” predictors of university GPA are variable across studies in their degree of predictive utility.     

Precursors of learning experiences in Social Cognitive Career Theory

This study extended the research on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; [Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79-122]) by examining the contributions of 3 person inputs (personality, gender, and conformity to gender role norms) to career-related learning experiences for each of Holland’s [Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources] 6 RIASEC themes. Participants (144 female and 113 male college students) completed measures of personality, conformity to feminine and masculine role norms, and learning experiences for Holland’s RIASEC themes. Results of path analyses indicated that the combination of person inputs explained a significant proportion of variance in each of the RIASEC-based learning experiences. Results supported 9 of 13 hypothesized relations involving personality, and suggested that for some personality traits, the relation to RIASEC-based learning experiences is both direct and indirect, via conformity to gender role norms. Results also revealed that gender predicted learning experiences for 5 of the 6 Holland themes; however, 4 of those relations were partially or completely mediated by conformity to gender role norms. Finally, findings supported 5 of 12 hypothesized relations involving conformity to gender role norms, and suggested that gender role conformity may be most relevant to learning experiences in the Realistic and Social domains.     

Moderation of the relation between person–environment congruence and academic success: Environmental constraint,personal flexibility and method

The relation of interest–major congruence to indicators of college success was examined as it was moderated by environmental constraint, individual flexibility, and congruence definition in an initial sample of 88,813 undergraduates (38,787 men and 50,026 women) from 42 different colleges and universities in 16 states. College achievement (GPA after 1 semester and 2 years), persistence (enrollment status after 1 year and after 2 years) and major persistence in year 3 were used as criteria of college success. The significance of congruence (i.e., Euclidean distance and profile correlation) and its moderators above that of measures of academic achievement (i.e., ACT scores) and gender were examined for each of the college outcome criteria using hierarchical modeling. Results indicated that both the environmental constraint of the major and the interest flexibility of the individual moderated the congruence–outcome relation for both types of congruence indices. There was a greater relation between congruence and college outcomes for those majors that had more homogeneity and were more differentiated (i.e., were more constrained) than for majors where this was not true. There was a stronger relation between congruence and college outcomes for those individuals with lower overall profile levels (i.e., low flexibility) than those with high. Findings point to the importance of interest–major congruence in the college outcome process, but also highlight the complexity of the congruence–outcome relation.     

Social cognitive career theory and the prediction of interests and choice goals in the computing disciplines

We tested the fit of the social cognitive choice model [Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance [Monograph]. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79-122] to the data across gender, educational level, and type of university among students in a variety of computing disciplines. Participants were 1208 students at 21 historically Black and 21 predominantly White universities. They completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and social supports and barriers with respect to computing majors. The SCCT model yielded adequate fit to the data across each of the grouping variables. Implications for future research on SCCT’s choice hypotheses in the context of science and engineering-related fields are discussed.     

Dispositional happiness and college student GPA: Unpacking a null relation

We examined the mechanisms that underlie the null relation between dispositional happiness and college grade point average (GPA) by testing the hypothesis that dispositional happiness has positive and negative indirect links to GPA that offset each other. The sample consisted of 317 first-year students. Using structural equation modeling, we found that dispositional happiness exerted a positive indirect effect on cumulative GPA via commitment to college (p < .01) and a negative indirect effect on cumulative GPA via satisfaction with peer (student) relationships (p < .05). As predicted, the sum of its indirect effects on cumulative GPA was not significant (p = .22).     

Hardiness commitment,gender, and age differentiate university academic performance

Background The increasing diversity of students, particularly in age, attending university has seen a concomitant interest in factors predicting academic success. Aims This 2‐year correlational study examined whether age, gender (demographic variables), and hardiness (cognitive/emotional variable) differentiate and predict university final degree grade point average (GPA) and final‐year dissertation mark. Sample Data are reported from a total of 134 university undergraduate students. Method Participants provided baseline data in questionnaires administered during the first week of their second year of undergraduate study and gave consent for their academic progress to be tracked. Final degree GPA and dissertation mark were the academic performance criteria. Results Mature‐age students achieved higher final degree GPA compared to young undergraduates. Female students significantly outperformed their male counterparts in each measured academic assessment criteria. Female students also reported a significantly higher mean score on hardiness commitment compared to male students. Commitment was the most significant positive correlate of academic achievement. Final degree GPA and dissertation mark were significantly predicted by commitment, and commitment and gender, respectively. Conclusions The findings have implications for universities targeting academic support services to maximize student scholastic potential. Future research should incorporate hardiness, gender, and age with other variables known to predict academic success.     

Motivations for social withdrawal and academic adjustment in emerging adulthood

While social withdrawal in childhood is typically associated with lower academic functioning, little is known about how motivations for social withdrawal may be connected to academic adjustment in emerging adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations between social withdrawal motivations (i.e., shyness, avoidance and unsociability) and indices of academic adjustment, including academic achievement (i.e., grade point average [GPA]) and academic motivation (i.e., intrinsic value, self-efficacy and test anxiety), while accounting for gender and conscientiousness. Participants were 623 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25 (M_age = 20.15, SD = 1.67; 79% female) who were currently attending university. Hierarchical regression results showed that shyness was negatively associated with intrinsic value and self-efficacy. Whereas shyness was positively associated with test anxiety, avoidance was negatively associated with test anxiety. Social withdrawal motivations were not associated with GPA. The findings suggest that some motivations for social withdrawal play a role in university students’ academic motivation, but not their academic achievement.     

Conscientiousness and self-motivation as mutually compensatory predictors of university-level GPA

To help account for variability across studies in the predictive utility of conscientiousness, we proposed that conscientiousness and self-motivation mutually compensate for each other in predicting university-level academic performance. Consistent with this expectation, we found evidence of such mutual moderation in a sample of 377 college undergraduates. First, we found that conscientiousness and self-motivation compensated for each other in predicting university GPA: Students who were either high in conscientiousness or high in self-motivation had better academic performance (GPA) than those who were low in both conscientiousness and self-motivation. Second, these findings were still evident after we controlled for the students’ previous academic performance (high school rank) and academic ability (SAT/ACT). The study of mutually compensatory predictors not only offers the potential of developing better predictive models; it also helps to account for why some “main effect” predictors of university GPA are variable across studies in their degree of predictive utility.