Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

Conscientiousness Is the Most Powerful Noncognitive Predictor of School Achievement in Adolescents

Published Online:February 29, 2016https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000182

Abstract

Abstract. Much research has demonstrated that intelligence and conscientiousness have a high impact on individual school achievement. To figure out if other noncognitive traits have incremental validity over intelligence and conscientiousness, we conducted a study on 498 eighth-grade students from general secondary schools in Austria. Hierarchical regressions for three criteria (GPA, science, and languages) were performed, including intelligence, the Big Five, self-discipline, grit, self-efficacy, intrinsic-extrinsic motivation, and test anxiety. Intelligence and conscientiousness alone accounted for approximately 40% in the variance of school achievement. For languages and GPA, no other personality and motivational predictors could explain additional variance; in science subjects, only self-discipline added incremental variance. We conclude that – in addition to intelligence as powerful cognitive predictor – conscientiousness is the crucial noncognitive predictor for school achievement and should be focused on when supporting students in improving their performance.

References

  • Abele, A. E. & Spurk, D. (2009). The longitudinal impact of self-efficacy and career goals on objective and subjective career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 53–62. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bleidorn, W. & Ostendorf, F. (2009). Ein Big Five-Inventar für Kinder und Jugendliche. Die deutsche Version des Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) [A Big Five inventory for children and adolescents: The German version of the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC)]. Diagnostica, 55, 160–173. First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Blum, F., Didi, H. J., Fay, E., Maichle, U., Trost, G., Wahlen, J. H. & Gittler, G. (1998). Intelligenz Struktur Analyse (ISA). Ein Test zur Messung der Intelligenz [Intelligence Structure Analysis. A test for measuring intelligence]. Frankfurt, Germany: Swets & Zeitlinger B. V., Swets Test Services. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Boekaerts, M. (1995). The interface between intelligence and personality as determinants of classroom learning. In D. H. SaklofskeM. ZeidnerEds., Handbook of Personality and Intelligence (pp. 161–183). New York, NY: Plenum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Caprara, G. V., Vecchione, M., Alessandri, M. G. & Barbaranelli, C. (2011). The contribution of personality traits and self-efficacy beliefs to academic achievement: A longitudinal study. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 78–96. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Furnham, A. (2005). Personality and intellectual competences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Costa, P. T. Jr. & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Deary, I. J., Strand, S., Smith, P. & Fernandes, C. (2007). Intelligence and educational achievement. Intelligence, 35, 13–21. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G. & Ryan, R. M. (1991). Motivation and education: The self-determination perspective. The Educational Psychologist, 26, 325–346. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • De Raad, B. & Schouwenburg, H. (1996). Personality in learning and education: A review. European Journal of Personality, 10, 406–425. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Diseth, Å. (2003). Personality and approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement. European Journal of Personality, 17, 143–156. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D. & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L. & Quinn, P. D. (2009). Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (GRIT–S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 166–174. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L. & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dudley, N. M., Orvis, K. A., Lebiecki, J. E. & Cortina, J. M. (2006). A meta-analytic investigation of conscientiousness in the prediction of job performance: Examining the intercorrelations and the incremental validity of narrow traits. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 40. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Freudenthaler, H. H., Spinath, B. & Neubauer, A. C. (2008). Predicting school achievement in boys and girls. European Journal of Personality, 22, 231–245. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Furnham, A., Rinaldelli-Tabaton, E. & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2011). Personality and intelligence predict arts and science school results in 16 year olds. Psychologia, 54, 39–51. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goff, M. & Ackerman, P. L. (1992). Personality-intelligence relations: Assessment of typical intellectual engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 537–552. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gustafsson, J.-E. & Undheim, J. O. (1996). Individual differences in cognitive functions. In D. C. BerlinerR. C. CalfeeEds., Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 186–242). New York, NY: Prentice Hall. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hembree, R. (1988). Correlates, causes, effects, and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 58, 47–77. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hodapp, V., Rohrmann, S. & Ringeisen, T. (2011). PAF – Prüfungsangstfragebogen [Test anxiety questionnaire]. Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jensen, A. R. (1980). Bias in mental testing. New York, NY: The Free Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jerusalem, M. & Satow, L. (1999). Schulbezogene Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung [School-related self-efficacy]. In R. SchwarzerM. JerusalemEds., Skalen zur Erfassung von Lehrer- und Schülermerkmalen (pp. 15–16). Berlin, Germany: Freie Universität Berlin. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Laidra, K., Pullmann, H. & Allik, J. (2007). Personality and intelligence as predictors of academic achievement: A cross-sectional study from elementary to secondary school. Personality and Individual Differences, 42 441–451. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lee, K. & Ashton, M. C. (2004). Psychometric properties of the HEXACO personality inventory. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 329–358. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lounsbury, J. W., Sundstrom, E., Loveland, J. L. & Gibson, L. W. (2003). Broad versus narrow personality traits in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Learning and Individual Differences, 14, 65–75. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mervielde, I. & De Fruyt, F. (2002). Assessing children’s traits with the Hierarchical personality inventory for children. In B. De RaadM. PeruginiEds., Big Five assessment (pp. 129–142). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Moutafi, J., Furnham, A. & Paltiel, L. (2004). Why is conscientiousness negatively correlated with intelligence? Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 1013–1022. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Müller, F. H., Hanfstingl, B. & Andreitz, I. (2007). Skalen zur motivationalen Regulation beim Lernen von Schülerinnen und Schülern: Adaptierte und ergänzte Version des Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) nach Ryan & Connell [Scales to assess motivational regulation during students’ learning]. Wissenschaftliche Beiträge aus dem Institut für Unterrichts- und Schulentwicklung Nr. 1. Klagenfurt: Alpen-Adria-Universität. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • O’Connor, M. C. & Paunonen, S. V. (2007). Big Five personality predictors of postsecondary academic performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 971–990. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ones, D. S. & Viswesvaran, C. (1996). Bandwidth-fidelity dilemma in personality measurement for personnel selection. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 609–626. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Paunonen, S. V. & Ashton, M. C. (2001). Big Five predictors of academic achievement. Journal of Research in Personality, 35, 78–90. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 322–338. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rindermann, H. & Neubauer, A. C. (2001). The influence of personality on three aspects of cognitive performance: Processing speed, intelligence and school performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 829–842. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ryan, R. M. & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 749–761. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Saks, A. M. (2006). Multiple predictors and criteria of job search success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 400–415. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spinath, B., Freudenthaler, H. H. & Neubauer, A. (2010). Domain-specific school achievement in boys and girls predicted by intelligence, personality and motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 481–486. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Stankov, L., Lee, J., Luo, W. & Hogan, D. J. (2012). Confidence: A better predictor of academic achievement than self-efficacy, self-concept and anxiety? Learning and Individual Differences, 22, 747–758. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Steinmayr, R. & Spinath, B. (2007). Predicting School Achievement from Motivation and Personality. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 21, 207–216. First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F. & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–323. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • von Stumm, S., Hell, B. & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2011). Curiosity predicts academic performance. The hungry mind: Intellectual curiosity as third pillar of academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 574–588. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wood, P. & Englert, P. (2009). Intelligence compensation theory: A critical examination of the negative relationship between conscientiousness and fluid and crystallised intelligence. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Organisational Psychology, 2, 19–29. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wood, R. & Bandura, A. (1989). Impact of conceptions of ability on self-regulatory mechanisms and complex decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 407–415. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar