Majors unleashed: unravelling students’ personality profiles across academic disciplines

Abstract

This study utilized Latent Profile Analysis to examine the correlation between personality and academic major choice among 1825 Greek university students, using the Five Factor Model (FFM) at the facet level. Four distinct personality profiles—resilients, overcontrollers, undercontrollers, and ordinaries—were identified. Female students predominantly chose Humanities, aligning with the overcontrollers profile while males leaned towards Sciences and Health Sciencesassociated with ordinaries, undercontrollers, and resilients profiles. Additionally, major choice varied, with Humanities and Sciences often linked to ordinaries, Health Sciences to resilients, and Economics/Information and Communication Technology to undercontrollers. This study emphasizes personalized interventions based on individual personality profiles for informed academic major choices.