Facets of Conscientiousness in Relation to Academic Performance Across Programs of Study

Conscientiousness and its six facets (competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline and deliberation) were examined in relation to cumulative grade point average (GPA) for undergraduate university students. The aim was to determine the degree to which conscientiousness predicted a higher GPA for students in varying programs, and to compare these results to previous findings. The programs examined were psychology, business, science/engineering, and general arts (i.e. B.A. programs other than psychology). Students were screened using Johnson’s (2014) “IPIP-NEO-120” (a 120-item version of the International Personality Item Pool-NEO: which measures constructs similar to those in the NEO Personality Inventory). Multiple regression analyses of the data revealed variations in concurrent validity of the facets of conscientiousness across majors. For psychology students, only Competence predicted GPA. For science and engineering students, Competence, Dutifulness and Achievement Striving predicted GPA. For general arts, only Deliberation predicted GPA. None of the facets were significant predictors for business students. Conscientiousness was thus a significant predictor of GPA across all majors, but the key facets were dependent on the area of study. The only gender difference detected was at low conscientiousness, with females having a significantly higher GPA than males. Additional research is necessary to further explore the predictive validity of the other Big Five personality traits and their facets, for a wider range of academic majors on academic success. Implications involve the role personality traits could play to the decision to enrol in a specific program, and how professors may bettor teach/mentor students in different programs.