Personality and Educational Outcomes

Among the most important outcomes for individuals and countries are those linked with education, and recent research has established that these outcomes are reliably correlated with personality measures based upon the five-factor model. Conscientiousness measures are the most strongly associated with educational outcomes at all educational levels, apparently due to conscientiousness being based upon effortful control and links with self-regulation of learning activities. Openness is next most important, resulting from associations with curiosity and motivation to learn. Correlations of academic performance with self-rated agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability decline at higher educational levels. Other-rated personality measures typically provide stronger, more consistent correlations with educational outcomes. Although intelligence affects some of these relationships, educational outcomes are independently linked with personality with effect sizes comparable with correlations with intelligence. Consequently, personality has a crucial role in education.