Summary:
What makes a good student “good” lays is determined by socially relevant discussion of college admission principles. Personality relates to school performance though academic achievement is more of intellect than personality. Meta-analysis results show that conscientiousness is related to academic performance. Conscientiousness is reliable since it is free from complications. Academic achievement is weakly linked with personality features.
The study seeks clarity on earlier studies. That is, lack of consistence in determining academic success and near-exclusive use of self-report personality measures. It is hypothesized that conscientiousness will not show difference in ethnicity SAT scores but will explain incremental variance in both outcome measures above the ones accounted for by traditional predictors.
The study involved 131, male and female, participants from Asian American, Hispanics, Latin Americans, Caucasians African Americans and others. There were 258 informants to describe acquainted participants. Participant granted access to their academic records but only the total results were used. For trait examination, participants provided self-repot and the informants provided peer ratings. This was by use of The Big Five Inventory that assesses extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness and neuroticism. Averaged informant reliability rate of conscientiousness was .59. Cumulative FGPA and sGPA were collected from the Registrar.
In descriptive statistics, mean differences among ethnic groups and correlation between predictors and outcome measures. Ethnicity differences in HSGPA, SAT and BFI scores were examined with one-way ANOVAs. Members of different racial groups were admitted to UCR with almost the same incoming HSGPA with little variation. However, there was a notable difference between ethnicity in their SAT scores; Caucasians were the highest and African American the lowest. Just as earlier predicted, there were no major differences in conscientiousness across ethnicities.
There were no significant correlation between gender and other study variables. Hierarchical Regression analyses were performed to assess the effectiveness of personality as a predictor of success. Conscientiousness relates to achievement at all academic level and evenly distributed across ethnicity. In academics, personality is a substantial predictor of performance.
Among the limitation of psychological research, is its basement on college student participants. Validity of the research could be influenced by the degree of informant knowledge of the participant. The selection method of the students to take part in the study is subjected to restricted range. There could be wrong interpretation or prediction of generalized data.
The research used meta-analysis in trying to resolve the mystery surrounding the relationship between personality and academic performance as well as success in future life. The results analyzed are from data collected in various experiments and research. By combining and analyzing the various results, the report was able to come up test the accuracy of the originally formulated hypothesis. This implies that the reliability and validity of data is enhanced by combining and comparing several sets of data collected by several parties or research done autonomously (Sarantakos, 2007). Various methods of measuring should be used. However, interest, intelligence and conscience of the party may also affect the data.
Behavioral consistency can best be understood by taking g data from different groups, in different places and in different time. Combining and analyzing these data will enable one overcome the barrier of age, ethnicity and other social aspects that affect behavior. However, concentrating on a small sample will lead to formulation of conclusions that will be true and pertinent to the specific group but unsuitable when applied to the general society and therefore using the conclusion in other places or groups is inaccurate.
Acquainting oneself with personalities requires that the traits and behaviors are studied from a larger bearing. It is also quite relevant to collect data or information from various groups in order to increase the accuracy of the conclusion as far as behavior is concerned. Behavior lacks consistency as individuals change for the better. The report clearly illustrates that traits determine behavior. The traits that one possesses determine their behavior, personality as well as academic performance or IQ. Trait and personality are two closely connected aspects which can best be understood by taking into consideration the kind of people under study (Barrick & Mount, 1991). For instance the personality of a college freshman and that of a final year is bound to differ. However, one must develop traits that are essential for the development of good behavior, good personality and desirable performance.
REFERENCES
Barrick, M., & Mount, M. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis.Personnel Psychology.
Sarantakos, S. (2007). Data analysis. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Wagerman, S. A. & Funder, D. C. (2007). Acquaintance reports of personality and academic achievement: A case for conscientiousness. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 221–229. Retrieved from http://peyser.sewanee.edu/Sites/251%20Research%20Methods/old%20items/for%20Friday%20Jan%2025/Wagerman%20&%202006.pdf
