The effect of personality traits on academic performance: The mediating role of academic motivation

Abstract

This study examined the effect of personality on academic motivation and academic performance. Participants were college students who voluntarily participated in the study. They were asked to complete a personality questionnaire (NEO-FFI), and an academic motivation questionnaire (AMS-C 28, included GPA and demographic data). Results showed that conscientiousness predicted both of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but openness to experience predicted only intrinsic motivation. Moreover, as expected, academic motivation mediated the relationship between openness to experience and conscientiousness with academic performance.