Chapter 13 McCrae and Costa’s Five-Factor Trait Theory 399which they measured the traits and academic outcomes of more than 10,000 stu-
dents. To conduct this research, Noftle and Robins gave undergraduates self-
report questionnaires to measure their scores on the “Big Five” traits and
asked about their SAT scores and high school and college GPAs, which were
then checked against university records for accuracy. The most important trait
for predicting both high school and college GPA was conscientiousness. Those
who are high on the trait of conscientiousness tend to have higher GPAs in both
high school and college. Recall that conscientiousness in Costa and McCrae’s
five-factor model of personality is defined as hardworking, well organized, and
punctual. Students high in conscientiousness are those who, day in and day out,
tend to make time for studying, know how to study well, and have good atten-
dance in class, all of which contribute to doing well in school. A meta-analysis
of 80 studies on more than 70,000 students confirmed the important role that
conscientiousness has in GPA (Poropat, 2009). In fact, conscientiousness has
nearly the same influence on GPA as intelligence.
Related to the question of whether personality predicts academic achievement
is the question of whether it predicts academic dishonesty. Which dimension(s) of
the Big Five—Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, and
Agreeableness—would you think best predicts a willingness to cheat on tests or
copy papers or homework?
Giluk and Postlethwaite (2015) conducted a meta-analysis of 17 studies from
all over the world that measured personality using a measure of the Big Five and at
least one measure of academic dishonesty. More than 5,000 students were assessed
in the 17 studies. Although relatively small in magnitude, correlations showed that
scoring low on conscientiousness and low on agreeableness predicted academic dis-
honesty. That is, students with personalities that are not very organized, disciplined,
planful, or goal directed, and who are somewhat hostile, cold, and lacking in empathy
are most likely to cheat on academic assignments.
The relationship between traits and SAT scores followed a different pattern than
for traits and GPA. The “Big Five” traits were not strong predictors of scores on the
math section of the SAT, but openness was related to scores on the verbal section
(Noftle & Robins, 2007). Specifically, those who scored higher on the trait of open-
ness were more likely to do well on the SAT verbal questions. If you think about
this, it makes sense. Those who score high on openness are imaginative, creative, and
can think broadly, which can be useful approaches to difficult questions on a test.
It may be surprising that in the discussion of predicting SAT scores from
traits, conscientiousness was not a strong predictor as it was for GPA. Yet SAT
scores and GPA, although both are general measures of academic success, are very
different. A person’s score on the SAT is more aptitude and based on one single
test, whereas GPA is more achievement and the product of years of work. It is
more difficult, through studying alone, to change one’s SAT score. It is somewhat
more akin to an intelligence test score.
Some people take the SAT multiple times, whereas other people take it but
once. These different approaches to test taking may reflect differences in the trait
of neuroticism. Given that those who score high on the trait of neuroticism tend
to be more anxious and less self-satisfied, it makes sense that these people may
be more likely to take the SAT over and over again.