Neuroticism correlates negatively with achievement overall, most strongly with STEM test scores¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r2–r3 · q4 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i0 Neuroticism shows more negative correlations in STEM (ρ = –0.09) than language (ρ = –0.03) domains and with test scores (ρ = –0.10) than grades (ρ = –0.03). → Meyer 2023 q4 i0 The most negative neuroticism correlation is with STEM test scores (ρ = –0.14), and the domain × measure interaction is not significant. → 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 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r2

Meta-analysis of 264 neuroticism effect sizes from 61 studies (N = 488,862) found "negative effects on achievement" with both domain and measure moderation; all printed correlations are below r = .10 in magnitude.

"We found significant differences when comparing language (ρ = –.03) and STEM (ρ = –.09) domains (RQ1; z = 4.47; p < 0.001) and also when comparing grades and standardized test scores (ρ = –.03 vs. –0.10; RQ2; z = 2.86; p = 0.004)"

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 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r3

In the specific comparisons, test scores showed more negative neuroticism correlations than grades in both domains, and STEM exceeded language in negativity within both measures; the overall interaction was not significant (t[49] = 0.26; p = 0.793).

"we found more negative correlations of neuroticism with test scores compared to grades in both STEM subject domains (ρ = –.14 vs. –0.07; z = –2.48; p = 0.013) and language subject domains (ρ = − 0.06 vs. .00; z = –2.81; p = 0.005)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

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

Related Claims¶

• For agreeableness, the language–STEM difference in achievement correlations is significant only for test scores, yielding a significant domain × measure interaction — related
• Of the Big Five personality traits, only conscientiousness (r = .22) and openness (r = .13) correlate appreciably with mathematics achievement — 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
• Student-reported teacher neuroticism negatively predicts student performance self-efficacy, with effects that differ across mathematics and English — related