Personality and interests as predictors of educational streaming and achievement

In this study Holland's RIASEC Model of vocational personalities and the Five-Factor Model of personality are used (i) to assess individual differences among study majors and (ii) to predict educational achievement. A sample of 934 last-year students who enrolled in different academic majors filled out Dutch/Flemish adaptations of the NEO-PI-R (Costa and McCrae, 1992) and the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1977; 1979). The results show that both models are useful to describe differences among different majors. Conscientiousness proves to be a general predictor of grades and study career. For the other Big Five dimensions, except for Agreeableness, major and/or gender specific relationships with educational outcomes are observed. Holland's interest dimensions are not related to educational achievement, except for some moderate gender or major specific correlations with the Investigative and the Artistic scales. Suggestions for future research regarding educational streaming and counselling are discussed.     

Differential recall of successes and failures: Its relationship to defensiveness,achievement motivation,and anxiety

Differential recall of completed and incompleted tasks under high and low stress was studied in 157 Ss. On the basis of repression, it would be expected that Ss identified as hysterics would recall fewer incompletions (ego threatening failures) under high than low stress. The results indicated that hysteria was not related to recall. On the other hand, Ss with high achievement motivation or low anxiety recalled more incompletions under high than low stress while there were no differences in their recall of completions under high and low stress. These results offered no support for repression. Furthermore, the relationships between recall and achievement motivation and anxiety suggest that the differential recall is due to differences in the original learning of the completed and incompleted tasks.     

Choice ambiguity, dissonance, and defensiveness

Female repressors and sensitizers were presented with a choice between two pens of different colors from five which they had previously rated on a relative-attractiveness scale Following choice, they rerated the pens under one of two conditions (a) where the choice had unequivocal implications for their femininity or (b) where it had equivocal implications for femininity Attractiveness ratings of the pens before and after choice constituted the major dependent variable Repressors tended to show greater average change in ratings than sensitizers under low ambiguity but not under high ambiguity Skin conductance measurements did not show interpretable dissonance effects, but there was evidence of R-S differences in skin conductance and self-report measures of tension     

Personality predictors of creative achievement and lawbreaking behavior

Current Psychology - This article investigates how Big Five personality traits are related to creative achievements and lawbreaking behavior in a large sample (N = 1669) of Polish...     

Predicting educational achievement from genomic measures and socioeconomic status

The two best predictors of children's educational achievement available from birth are parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) and, recently, children's inherited DNA differences that can be aggregated in genome‐wide polygenic scores (GPS). Here, we chart for the first time the developmental interplay between these two predictors of educational achievement at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 in a sample of almost 5,000 UK school children. We show that the prediction of educational achievement from both GPS and SES increases steadily throughout the school years. Using latent growth curve models, we find that GPS and SES not only predict educational achievement in the first grade but they also account for systematic changes in achievement across the school years. At the end of compulsory education at age 16, GPS and SES, respectively, predict 14% and 23% of the variance of educational achievement. Analyses of the extremes of GPS and SES highlight their influence and interplay: In children who have high GPS and come from high SES families, 77% go to university, whereas 21% of children with low GPS and from low SES backgrounds attend university. We find that the associations of GPS and SES with educational achievement are primarily additive, suggesting that their joint influence is particularly dramatic for children at the extreme ends of the distribution.     

Personality and approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement

The relationship between personality, approaches to learning, and academic achievement was investigated. Two different undergraduate student samples, totalling 310 students, participated in the study. Results showed the expected significant correlations between the personality factors of openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness, on the one hand, and deep, surface, and strategic approaches to learning, on the other. A significant negative correlation between surface approach and achievement was observed in sample 1. In sample 2, achievement was positively correlated with neuroticism, openness, and deep approach, and negatively correlated with agreeableness. Path analysis showed that each approach to learning was predicted by multiple personality traits, and that academic achievement was predicted by approaches to learning. A separate analysis showed that the relationship between openness and achievement was mediated by a deep approach to learning. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drooping out: Relationship of speaking anxiety to self-esteem, crime, and educational achievement.

This study focused on the relationship that anxiety about speaking has to educational achievement, self-esteem, and type of crime. The data gathered from 46 female felons indicated significant relationships and suggested that programs designed to decrease anxiety about speaking can be effectively presented. Perhaps such treatment should be the first step in developing and correcting deficiencies in skills thereby preventing the skid toward dropping out and delinquency.     

Determinants of educational achievement at 16+: Intelligence,personality, home background and school

The classical path model linking home background with IQ and school type to educational attainment is extended by the inclusion of the EPQ and new questionnaires measuring Status Aspiration and Work Ethic. In a study of approx. 700 adolescents it was shown that Psychoticism and Status Aspiration are significant variables in the prediction of educational achievement. The most important determinant of educational attainment was found to be intelligence.     

Trait anxiety, defensiveness, and the structure of worry

A principal components analysis of the ten scales of the Worry Questionnaire revealed the existence of major worry factors or domains of social evaluation and physical threat, and these factors were confirmed in a subsequent item analysis. Those high in trait anxiety had much higher scores on the Worry Questionnaire than those low in trait anxiety, especially on those scales relating to social evaluation. Scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale were negatively related to worry frequency. However, groups of low-anxious and repressed individuals formed on the basis of their trait anxiety and social desirability scores did not differ in worry. It was concluded that worry, especially in the social evaluation domain, is of fundamental importance to trait anxiety.     

Attempted suicide in youth: Its relationship to school achievement,educational goals,and socioeconomic status

Twenty-six suicide attempters, 9 to 18 years of age, were compared with 725 nonattempters on measures of school achievement, educational goals, socioeconomic status, and depression. As has been found in studies using clinical samples, suicide attempters in our communitybased sample had significantly lower school achievement than nonattempters. The relationship between attempted suicide and low school achievement seemed to be explained by the effects of depression. Lower-SES youth tended to be more likely to attempt suicide than higher-SES youths. However, SES appeared to have little effect on the relationship between attempted suicide and school achievement. Results also suggest that children of mothers with low educational goals for them may be more at risk for attempted suicide than youths whose mothers have higher educational goals for their children.This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Grant No. MH36971.     

Personality as a moderator of context effects on academic achievement

We investigated whether personality moderates group influence of classmates on academic achievement and whether these so-called context effects can be attributed to peer pressure. The sample consisted of 2498 students in their first year of Dutch secondary education. The data were analyzed by a two-level (students within classes) analysis, separately for boys (n = 1033, in 92 classes) and girls (n = 1465, in 119 classes). For both sexes, we found a context effect on Dutch language achievement but not on mathematics achievement. Emotional Stability appeared a moderator of this context effect but for girls only. The results suggest further that peer pressure is not a likely mechanism of group influence of classmates on academic achievement.