Are more conscientious seventh- and ninth-graders less likely to be retained?
- Previous research has identified students' personality traits, especially conscientiousness, as highly relevant predictors of academic success. Less is known about the role of Big Five personality traits in students when it comes to teachers' decisions about students' educational trajectories and whether personality traits differentially affect these decisions by teachers in different grade levels. This study examines to what extent students' Big Five personality traits affect teacher decisions on grade retention, looking at two cohorts of 12,146 ninth-grade and 6002 seventh-grade students from the German National Educational Panel Study. In both grade levels, multilevel logistic mediation models show that students' conscientiousness indirectly predicts grade retention through the assignment of grades by teachers. In the ninth-grade sample, students' conscientiousness was additionally a direct predictor of retention, distinct from teacher-assigned grades. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and explore whether teachers basePrevious research has identified students' personality traits, especially conscientiousness, as highly relevant predictors of academic success. Less is known about the role of Big Five personality traits in students when it comes to teachers' decisions about students' educational trajectories and whether personality traits differentially affect these decisions by teachers in different grade levels. This study examines to what extent students' Big Five personality traits affect teacher decisions on grade retention, looking at two cohorts of 12,146 ninth-grade and 6002 seventh-grade students from the German National Educational Panel Study. In both grade levels, multilevel logistic mediation models show that students' conscientiousness indirectly predicts grade retention through the assignment of grades by teachers. In the ninth-grade sample, students' conscientiousness was additionally a direct predictor of retention, distinct from teacher-assigned grades. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and explore whether teachers base their decisions on different indicators when retaining seventh-grade students or ninth-grade students.…
| Author details: | Andrea WestphalORCiDGND, Miriam VockORCiDGND, Rebecca LazaridesORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101088 |
| ISSN: | 0193-3973 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Journal of applied developmental psychology : an internat. multidisciplinary |
| Subtitle (English): | effects of big five personality traits on grade retention in two different age cohorts |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| Place of publishing: | Amsterdam |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2019/11/10 |
| Publication year: | 2019 |
| Release date: | 2023/01/13 |
| Tag: | educational; educational achievement; gender; grade retention; large-scale study; personality; socioeconomic status |
| Volume: | 66 |
| Article number: | 101088 |
| Number of pages: | 12 |
| Funding institution: | German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)Federal Ministry; of Education & Research (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; (DFG)German Research Foundation (DFG) [WE 6191/1-1] |
| Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Bildungswissenschaften / Department Erziehungswissenschaft |
| DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
