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Personality Traits and Academic Performance

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Introduction

Personality describes the consistent differences observed in different individuals. Another definition of personality describes it as the qualities that make people alike and set them apart from other species.  Personality makes up an individual and drives them in terms of how they think, feel, and behave. The behavioral characteristics of personality can either be inherent or acquired (Kemberg & O F., 2016). This statement states that an individual can develop a personality over time or inherit it mostly during childhood. More often than not, personality traits help reflect the stability and consistency of a person. Personalities set people apart and make them unique. Normally, personalities are stable and do not change throughout a person’s lifetime. Personality encompasses the attitude, mood, and opinions expressed during interactions and how people relate to the environment or other people.

Personality Traits and Academic Performance

Personality traits define the different dimensions in which different individuals vary. Personality traits mostly reflect a continuous distribution of behavior rather than distinct personality types. Different researchers developed many theories to categorize personality traits. Ernest Types develop different characteristics, and Raymond Christal used to categorize personality traits; consistency, stability, and individual differences. Personality traits should be consistent across different situations and environments (Holzman & P. S., 2020). Personality traits are supposed to be somewhat stable over time. Behavior related to personality traits makes people different from one another. Some traits can be similar in people but can vary in frequency.

 Psychologists describe that individuals have several personality types; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and introversion, agreeableness, neuroticism (Dewi et al., 2020). These characteristics work by defining an individual’s personality traits from genetics and are known as the big five traits (Dewi et al., 2020). Openness to experience describes the willingness of an individual to participate ad take part in learning new skills and experiences. Conscientiousness describes the traits of an individual who chooses to think before taking part in any task. Extroversion is a trait that describes people who tend to concentrate on things happening outside, while introversion describes the trait of concentrating more on one’s personal life than others. People who tend to be accommodating of situations have the trait of agreeableness. Neuroticism is a personality trait in people prone to getting negative thoughts like envy, anger, or guilt and are therefore pessimistic towards situations.

Academic motivation is one of the prime factors that determine a student’s success. Apart from intelligence and ability, successful results in education depend on the student’s interest. According to research, an individual’s personality trait can help predict academic motivation achievements (Mammadov et al., 2018). It is possible to know one’s personality traits through a personality trait test. According to the big five personality trait test, I have a high rate of openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and low rates of extroversion. High levels of openness make students intellectually curious, insightful, and aesthetic. Students tend to be interested in learning in acquiring and understanding new information.

 High levels of conscientiousness indicate that an individual has high levels of self-control, diligence, and organization (Mammadov et al., 2018). This trait also makes one organized and mindful of details. This trait makes one very efficient in the academic context. Students can meet deadlines when it comes to assignments and can accomplish tasks without supervision. This trait also makes one apply effort in tasks and make sure to complete them. High neuroticism can make a student prone to getting stressed out, especially when trying to meet deadlines or accomplish difficult tasks assigned to them at school. Being agreeable helps students during social interactions. Agreeable individuals also make it hard to follow personal goals and express themselves in fear of upsetting others. Low levels of extraversion indicate that a student is not prone to liking large gatherings, social interactions, or being the center of attention. This trait is efficient since students can concentrate more on schoolwork than participating in gatherings. The trait also interferes with the way a student conducts social interactions. Interacting with different people is sometimes very advantageous as one gets to learn, get new experiences and create meaningful relationships.

Accomplishing academic excellence depends on working and fixing problematic areas interfering with studies. Working on individual personality traits like neuroticism and extraversion is one of the steps that can assist in this task. Neuroticism tends to generate negative emotions like worry. To avoid getting anxious and worried in a school environment is often generated from tests and assignments. Fixing this problematic area requires students to always be prepared. For example, studying enough prior to tests can help evade these negative feelings in the context of tests. Working on being less of an introvert will require participating in social gatherings and interactions. One must know how to relate to different individuals in life.

Conclusion

An individual’s personality defines how they think, feel, and behave. Defining a person’s personality depends on several traits. Personality traits are useful in identifying the degree to which people vary. Personality traits tend to be consistent, stable and indicate individual differences. Personality traits can develop due to genetics or the environment an individual inhabits. The big five personality traits classify an individual according to openness to experiences, neuroticism, agreeableness, extroversion and introversion, and conscientiousness. Personality traits have a significant role in the motivation and success of a student’s academic life. Working on some of the traits can influence how students take their academics and eventual results.

References

Dewi, N. P., Satriawan, B., Yanti, S., Faizah, A., -, N., Wibisono, C., Khaddafi, M., & -, T. (2020). Influence openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism on performance with self-efficacy as mediator. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(03), 1507-1516. https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v24i3/pr200900

Holzman, P. S. (2020, February 24). personality. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/personality

Kemberg, & O F. (2016). What is personality? Journal of Personality Disorders, 30(2), 145-156. doi/pdf/10.1521/Pedi.2106.30.2.145

Mammadov, S., Cross, T. L., & Ward, T. J. (2018). The Big Five personality predictors of academic achievement in gifted students: Mediation by self-regulatory efficacy and academic motivation. High Ability Studies, 29(2), 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2018.1489222