Title: Personality, self-regulation and academic success: differences and interactions across academic major

Authors: Tianna Loose; Alejandro Vasquez-Echeverría

Addresses: Centro de Investigación Básica en Psicología & Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Dr. Tristán Narvaja 1674, 11200 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay ' Centro de Investigación Básica en Psicología & Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Dr. Tristán Narvaja 1674, 11200 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay

Abstract: Personality traits would be meaningfully associated with academic performance and distinguish students across academic majors. One recent study suggested that personality traits had different associations with achievement as a function of students' major. As this was the case for personality traits, self-regulated learning and feelings of belonging could also differ. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 265 students from the psychology and engineering department. Agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, self-regulation, intrinsic value and use of cognitive strategies differed across groups. Academic major moderated relationships between neuroticism or intrinsic value and grade point average, as well as the relationship between openness and feelings of belonging. Dispositional and motivational characteristics distinguish students across academic majors. The prevalence and associations of these characteristics differed across field, unveiling a crucial need to account for academic major and cautioning generalisations.

Keywords: personality; self-regulation; intrinsic value; self efficacy; cognitive strategies; moderation; higher education; academic major; feelings of belonging; academic performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2025.145751

International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education, 2025 Vol.6 No.1, pp.18 - 35

Accepted: 14 Oct 2022
Published online: 23 Apr 2025 *

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