Conscientiousness correlates more strongly with grades than with standardized test scores, across both language and STEM domains¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r2 · q4 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i2 Conscientiousness correlations are larger for grades (ρ = 0.28) than for test scores (ρ = 0.13). → Meyer 2023 q4 i2 The grades-over-test-scores pattern holds within STEM (ρ = 0.26 vs. 0.11) and language (ρ = 0.27 vs. 0.16) domains, with no significant domain × measure interaction. → Meyer 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

Meyer 2023¶

Meyer, J., Jansen, T., Hübner, N., & Lüdtke, O. (2023). Disentangling the Association Between the Big Five Personality Traits and Student Achievement: Meta-Analytic Evidence on the Role of Domain Specificity and Achievement Measures. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09736-2

q4 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2

Meta-analysis of 305 conscientiousness effect sizes from 74 studies (N = 513,300), corrected for measurement error, found "larger correlations found for grades (ρ = 0.28) compared to test scores (ρ = 0.13)"; the domain moderation itself was not significant (p = 0.230).

"we did find a moderating effect of measure (RQ2), with larger correlations found for grades (ρ = 0.28) compared to test scores (ρ = 0.13; z = 5.17; p < 0.001)"

Meyer 2023 (2)¶

Meyer, J., Jansen, T., Hübner, N., & Lüdtke, O. (2023). Disentangling the Association Between the Big Five Personality Traits and Student Achievement: Meta-Analytic Evidence on the Role of Domain Specificity and Achievement Measures. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09736-2

q4 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2

In the individual domain × measure comparisons, grades exceeded test scores within both named domains; the overall interaction was not significant (t[60] = 1.58; p = 0.119), and no domain differences emerged within either measure.

"we found larger correlations of grades compared to test scores with both STEM (ρ = 0.26 vs. 0.11; z = 4.54; p < 0.001) and language subject domains (ρ = 0.27 vs. 0.16; z = 3.27; p = 0.001)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Personality Traits — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Mathematics achievement correlates more strongly with learners' knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities than with their personality traits, goals or emotions — related
• Of the Big Five personality traits, only conscientiousness (r = .22) and openness (r = .13) correlate appreciably with mathematics achievement — related
• Fluid reasoning, not trait self-control, predicts low-stakes standardized mathematics and physics test scores — related
• Trait self-control correlates with grades but not with standardized test scores at the bivariate level — related
• Openness shows larger correlations with achievement in language than in STEM subject domains, a pattern that holds for both grades and test scores — related