Colegio San Agustin - Makati

Senior High School

Academic Year 2017 - 2018

The Effect of Goldberg’s 5 Personality Traits to the Academic

Performance of Grade 11 Students

Submitted by:
TANPOCO, Melizza Jaune
PAYAWAN, Bettina Aniag
AVILA, Sergei Kenrick P.
11H

Submitted to:
Ms. Cruzado

March 14, 2018

 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Abstract

This research was conducted to study the effect of personality traits with the academic

achievement among students. The population was Grade 11 Accounting, Business Management

students, with a total of 131 students. However, only 40 randomly chosen students were chosen to

represent the entirety of the Accounting, Business Management students. The Instruments used

were Goldberg’s Big Five Personality Factors and student's General Average of the first semester

Academic year 2017-2018. The results have shown that only ​Openness to experience has a

significant relationship to the Academic Performance, while ​Neuroticism, Extraversion​,

Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness​ do not

Keywords: Accounting Business Management, Goldberg, Colegio San Agustin, ​Openness to

experience,​ Neuroticism, Extraversion​, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness

Statement of the Problem

Academic achievement is a common goal amongst students and is also considered as a

criteria for educational quality in schools. This depends on the students’ ability to garner average, or

even higher, grades. However, teachers, parents, and school admins may be unaware of the

variables that affect these students ability to acquire average, or above average grades, such as their

personality factors. Students have distinctive personality factors that affect their way of thinking and

determine a students’ behaviour in an educational environment. If these factors are taken into

consideration by the teachers and school admins, the curriculum could be manipulated to give

emphasis on the factor that results into academic achievement in order to help students garner

above average grades.

Review of Related Literature

Normally, academic achievement is garnered through measures of intelligence,

socioeconomic status of one student, and their own mental abilities. Although, according to a

research conducted by Paunonen and Ashton (2001), there is a consistent role played by personality

characteristics and traits in terms of academic achievement and performance.

There are five personality factors according to Lewis Goldberg that he identified as the

primary factors of personality are the following:

1. ​Extroversion: It is where one person gets his/her energy, and how this energy affects how

he/she acts around other people. In general, extroverts get energy from interacting with others,

while introverts get tired from interacting with others and prefer to be alone to get back the lost

energy. Based on a research by Lebowitz (2016), People high in extroversion tend to seek out

opportunities for social interaction, where they are often the “life of the party.” They are

comfortable with others, gregarious, and prone to action rather than contemplation.

2. ​Agreeableness: Concerns relationships with other people and how well the person gets along

with other individuals and how well they are in terms of interaction. According to a study by

Lebowitz (2016), People high in agreeableness tend to be well-liked, respected, and sensitive to

the needs of others. They likely have few enemies, are sympathetic, and affectionate to their

friends and loved ones, as well as sympathetic to the plights of strangers.

​3. ​Conscientiousness: Conscientiousness is a trait that can be described as the tendency to control

impulses and act in socially acceptable ways, behaviours that facilitate goal-directed behavior (John

& Srivastava, 1999).

4. ​Neuroticism: Neuroticism is a factor of one’s confidence and comfort in their own skin.

According to a research by Lebowitz (2016), Those high in neuroticism are generally given to

anxiety, sadness, worry, and low self-esteem. They may be temperamental or easily angered,

and they tend to be self-conscious and unsure of themselves.

5. ​Openness: Openness to experience has been described as the depth and complexity of an

individual’s mental​ life and experiences (John & Srivastava, 1999)

According to The American Psychological Association (APA) (2017), personality is the individual

differences in characteristic patterns of feelings, behaviour, and thinking. They elaborated on how

the personality and traits of one individual affects his/her way of thinking in various environments

whether in social or educational settings; People choose environments which are consistent with

their respected personalities; when achievement criteria and personality characteristics overlap,

personality and academic achievement may be directly related. (Caspi, Robert, & Shiner, 2005).

Some studies have indicated academic performance is positively associated with openness to

experience, agreeableness and extroversion. Meanwhile it’s negatively associated with neuroticism

(Laidra, 2007)(Lounsbury,2003). However, these findings have not been replicated in other studies

and no relationship has been reported between academic performance and extroversion

neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness and extroversion (Wolfe and Johnson, 1995)

Findings concurrently point to a positive relationship between conscientiousness and academic

achievement (Laidra, 2007). A large pile of studies show a positive association between academic

achievement and conscientiousness (Komarraju, Conard, 2009). According to Furnham, Zhang, &

Chamoro, (2006) found a negative relationship between extroversion and achievement at higher

education. This means that extroversion fails to meet the standard of academic achievement in the

High School curriculum. Highly extroverted students are more likely to spend their time on social and
extracurricular activities in comparison to less extroverted students, and in result, their academic

performance is greatly affected. They also experience stress and anxiety when faced with school

related work.

The relationship between conscientiousness and academic achievement is mediated or

controlled by motivation, and anxiety mediates the relationship of neuroticism to academic

achievement. (Furnham, 2006). Neuroticism and extroversion leads to many factors that affect

academic performance such as illness, stress, body pains, headaches, and more. However,

Komarraju (2009) conducted a study on 308 undergraduate students and interestingly reported a

positive relationship between extroversion, neuroticism and academic achievement. According to

the researcher, this is caused by what is called as “achievement anxiety”. It is the anxiety that drives

them to study harder in order to get above average grades.

Some studies also include a positive relationship between agreeableness and academic

achievement wherein performing well in group works and performance tasks compliment academic

achievement. Various researchers such as Furnham (2006), Duckworth & Seligman (2005), and

Lounsbury (2003) concluded more agreeable students tended to have higher GPAs and consequently

higher academic achievement.

Many researchers have suggested a relationship between openness to experience and

academic achievement (Paunonen & Ashton, 2001). Duff et al. (2004) reported a positive

relationship between these variables. As people who are open tend to become more adaptable to

new things, gives students a more active form of imagination, and improves intellectual curiosity,

positive relationships between Openness and academic achievement is not far from expectation.
 Objective of the Study

The aims of this research are the following:

1. To predict if there is a relationship between Goldberg’s Five Personality Traits to the

academic performance of Grade 11 Accounting Business Management students;

2. To analyze and discuss the different Personalities of Goldberg and its effect on the Academic

Performance;

3. To assess the Personalities being possessed by Grade 11 Accounting Business Management

students.

Hypotheses

1. There is a significant relationship between ​Openness to experience to the Academic Performance of

Grade 11 Accounting, Business Management students.

Research Questions

This research will be guided by these two points of inquiry:

1. Do the 5 personality traits of Goldberg have an effect on the academic performance?

2. What personality of Goldberg has the most significant relationship with academic

performance?

CHAPTER II

PROCEDURE

Methodology

The method that was used for the study was the survey research. It is a method in which the

researchers selected random 40 Accounting Business Management from Grade 11 in Colegio San

Agustin-Makati A.Y. 2017-2018 will be utilizing.

 A structured questionnaire was developed by the researchers. Prior to Tamsin

White’s ​Principles of Good Research & Research Proposal Guide,​ which states that participants shall

be clearly informed on what the research is about ​(White, 2006),​ stated on the upper portion of the

questionnaire is a brief information about the research. Also, included there is the relevance or the

reason why the research is being conducted.

The instrument consists of a standardized personality test of Goldberg along with the

participants general average during the first semester. The questionnaire was designed in such a

format that it could be easily understood, both by the researchers and by the respondents.

Moreover the researchers’ steps in collecting the data are as follows:

1. The researchers personally gave consent forms for participants of each section to fill in. According to

the University of Tennessee, a consent paper makes sures that the participants are respected by

providing them an opportunity to accept or decline their involvement. Therefore, the researchers

made sure to be ethical and make a consent form.

2. Data gathering: Participants who gave their consent will be given a standardized test taken from

Psychologist World to answer in order for the researchers to determine their personality factor.

3. After answering the tests, the participants will be grouped according to the personality factor they

garnered.

4. The researchers will acquire the general average of every participant from the 1st semester of grade

level 11.

5. The researchers then will collect all the data and put it in MS excel which will be used to get the

Descriptive Statistics, Correlation, and Regression.

6. Data analysis will take place.

Participants

The participants in this research are from the Grade 11 Accounting, Business, and

Management strand from sections H, I, and J with a population of 131 students. The researchers

used the Slovin’s formula to get the total number of samples. There is a total of forty (40) randomly

selected participants based on their personalities in this research. The breakdown of the participants

is as follows: Twenty-one (21) participants come from 11-H, the high average class of the ABM

strand. Seven (7) participants from 11-I. Twelve (12) participants from 11-J.

Statistical Tool

The statistical tool used in this research is Regression Main Result. The researchers aim to

explore the relationship between Goldberg’s Five Personality Traits and the academic performance

of Accounting Business Management students. The goal of this research is to understand how the

dependent variable (academic performance of students) changes when the independent variable is

fixed or varied (five personality traits).

Questions/Survey
 CHAPTER III

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Data Analysis

This column chart shows the results of the participants when in comes to their personalities.

Out of the 40 samples, 8 of them have the personality of Agreeableness; 8 of them have the

personality of Neuroticism; 8 of them have the personality of Extraversion; 8 of them have the

personality of Openness to experience; and 8 of them have the personality of Conscientiousness.

This column chart shows the mean of the general averages of the participants according to

their respective personalities from the first semester. Extraversion garnered the mean of 89;

Openness to experience garnered the mean of 94; Conscientiousness garnered the mean of 92;

Agreeableness garnered the mean of 90; while Neuroticism garnered the mean of 86.
 A. Descriptives

This table shows the Descriptive Analysis of data. Extraversion has a mean of 70.12 with a

standard deviation of 12.147. Openness has a mean of 74.05 with a standard deviation of 9.589.

Conscientiousness has a mean of 75.02 with a standard deviation of 8.722. Agreeableness has a

mean of 71.41 with a standard deviation of 11.140. Neuroticism has a mean of 61.68 with a

standard deviation of 14.442. The General Average has a mean of 90.49 with a standard deviation of

3.473.

B. Pearson Correlation

This table shows the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. This was determined to explore the

association between Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism and

the General Average. There is no significant relationship between Extraversion and the General

Average (-.017). Likewise, there is also no significant relationship between Neuroticism and the

General Average (-.210). Similarly, there is also no significant relationship between Agreeableness

and the General Average (.211). Correspondingly, there is also no significant relationship between

Conscientiousness and the General Average (.276).

On the other hand, there is a significant positive linear correlation between Openness and

General Average (.433**)

Data Result

This table shows that the 5 personality traits of Goldberg can predict the General Average.

The obtained R2 is .460, which means that 46% of the variance in the General Average is positively

predicted by Openness to experience. Openness to experience significantly contributes to the

variance scores, for F (5,34) = 5.782, p = <.05. Therefore the hypothesis stating that there is a

significant relationship between Goldberg’s personality factor: Openness to experience to the Grade

11 Accounting Business Management students’ academic performance is accepted.

Discussion

Based on the results of this research, four of Goldberg’s personality factors, Neuroticism,

Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, will not lead to garnering higher grades or

Academic achievement. However, Openness, affects Academic achievement in a positive way. This

was determined through Linear Regression which showed that Openness, had a significance of p =

.015, making it the highest of all. Based on the related literature the researchers found, it is said that

Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness are what usually affect Academic Performance in a

positive way. Although, it is stated that Conscientiousness and Openness are what mainly lead to

Academic Achievement, whereas Neuroticism and extraversion may lead to poor Academic

performance due to reasons such as anxiety, stress, pressure, and more. The second to the highest

factor that affects the general average aside from openness, although still does not have a significant
relationship with the DV, is extroversion. According to studies by ​Komarraju (2009) he reported a

positive relationship between extroversion, neuroticism and academic achievement although it is

the root of anxiety. According to the researcher, this is caused by what is called as “achievement

anxiety”. It is the anxiety that drives them to study harder in order to get above average grades.

These findings and results may be used and based upon by the schools admins and teachers,

so that they may determine what personality factor they should impose into the program of the

school and onto students in order to achieve an above average Academic Performance. In other

words, this may help the school to shape their students with a certain personality, that is Openness.

Many researchers have suggested a relationship between openness to experience and academic

achievement (Paunonen & Ashton, 2001). Duff et al. (2004) reported a positive relationship between

these variables. As people who are open tend to become more adaptable to new things, gives

students a more active form of imagination, and improves intellectual curiosity. ​The limitation of this

research is that it is only limited to 3 sections of the Accounting Business Management strand; and

that due to the heavy workload, only a few wanted to participate in the research study. In order for

the results of this research to be more accurate, the researchers should get a bigger sample size

from the ABM students of the Grade 11 batch, expand to the Grade 12 batch if possible, and conduct

this when students are not bombarded with such a heavy workload.

Conclusion

The researchers found that there is a significant and strong relationship between one of

Goldberg’s personality factors, Openness, to the General Average of the students. The other four of

Goldberg’s factors, Neuroticism, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, do not affect

or only has minimal impact to the General Average of these students and therefore will only have

minimal impact on their academic achievement. Having a high percentage with personality factor

Openness will lead to better and higher grades compared to the other four factors of personality.
Recommendations

1. Use a bigger sample size when conducting this kind of research in order to get highly

accurate results.

2. When conducting the personality factor test, use the legitimate long test by Goldberg for

more precise percentages and more accurate results.

3. Make sure that when the data is randomly hand picked in order to abide to the desired

sample size, every personality factor should have the same amount of participants.

4. After gathering the general average of the students, get the mean of all the grades per

personality factor for additional supporting data.

5. Conduct the research during a season when the participants are not busy due to

requirements in order to avoid a test that was falsely answered to save time by a student.

Scope and Limitations

This study will only be limited to the participants who are in the Accounting Business

Management strand in Colegio San Agustin-Makati. The chosen samples to represent the strand do

not represent the rest of the Accounting Business Management students in the Philippines. This

study will only provide a conclusion for the participants that are involved in this research. The

participants will only be taken from Accounting Business Management students studying in Colegio

San Agustin-Makati A.Y. 2017-2018. This research will only focus on a deeper understanding of the

effects of the 5 Personality traits on the Academic Performance in for randomly selected Accounting

Business Management students studying in Colegio San Agustin-Makati A.Y. 2017-2018. The

researchers disregarded factors such as, amount of time sleep, amount of extra-curricular activities,

amount of time to study, and such. The researched only focused on the Personalities of the

participants.
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