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 language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 555-567 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Personality |
Volume | 88 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 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