Personality Traits and Academic Performance: Evidence from college students in Brazil

Authors

  • Christiano Arrigoni Coelho Ibmec/RJ e Uerj
  • Marcelo de Albuquerque e Mello Ibmec/RJ e Uerj
  • Lucia Barbosa de Oliveira EBAPE-FGV, Rio de Janeiro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31501/rbee.v22i1.13675

Abstract

Drawing from a sample of 534 college students from a small private college
and a large public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this study investigates the effects
of personality traits, measured by the Big Five (neuroticism, extroversion, openness
to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), Core Self-evaluation (locus
of control, neuroticism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem), and Grit (loosely defined
as enthusiasm and resilience), on academic performance. Controlling for socioeconomic status, we find that a one-standard deviation increase in conscientiousness
is associated with a 2.8% increase in Graduate-Point Average (GPA). Additionally, a
one-standard deviation increase in Grit is associated with an increase of 1.8% in GPA.
Moreover, we also find that extroversion and agreeableness are negatively related
to academic performance. These results suggest that investing in some specific
personality traits, such as Grit and conscientiousness can have significant payoffs
in terms of academic performance.

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Published

2022-10-20

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Artigos

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