Social comparison at school: Can GPA and personality mutually influence each other across time?

Oana Negru-Subtirica*, Eleonora Ioana Pop, Elisabetta Crocetti, Wim Meeus

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: Being a student is an important social role youth play during adolescence and how they approach this role has critical implications for their future development. This three-wave longitudinal study investigated the links between academic achievement (i.e., GPA) and personality traits, through the lens of social comparison mechanisms. Method: Patterns of effects between students' GPA and personality traits were analyzed at group (i.e., comparing rank-order differences at group-level; group effects) and individual (i.e., scores are compared to a student's own mean; within-person effects) levels. A total of 1,151 adolescents (Mage = 16.45 years; 58.7% female) participated in the study. Results: Most effects we depicted were from GPA to personality traits. At the group-level, higher GPA fostered students' Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness, while Openness reinforced high levels of GPA. At the individual level, GPA was a protective factor against negative affect, as it drove longitudinal decreases in Neuroticism. Conclusions: GPA had a stronger role in personality formation when it reflected students' standing in the school compared to their peers (i.e., group effects) and to a lesser extent when it reflected changes at personal level (i.e., within-person effects).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)555-567
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Personality
Volume88
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS?UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-0292, within PNCDI III, awarded to the first author.

Keywords

  • adolescence
  • GPA
  • personality traits
  • social comparison
  • student role

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