Aim Personality traits and cognitive ability are well‐established predictors of academic performance. Yet, how consistent and generalizable are the associations between personality, cognitive ability, and performance? Building on theoretical arguments that trait–performance relations should vary depending on the demands and opportunities for trait expression in the learning environment, we investigated whether the associations of personality (Big Five) and cognitive ability (fluid intelligence) with academic performance (grades and tests scores) vary across school subjects (German and math) and across ability‐grouped school tracks (academic, intermediate, and vocational). Method Multiple group structural equation models in a large representative sample of ninth‐grade students (N = 12,915) from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Results Differential associations across school subjects emerged for cognitive ability, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness (math > German); and for Openness and Extraversion (German > math). Differential associations across school tracks emerged for cognitive ability, Conscientiousness (academic > intermediate > vocational) and Agreeableness (academic > intermediate > vocational). Personality traits explained more variation in academic performance in the academic than in the other tracks. Conclusion Most trait–performance relations varied across subjects, tracks, or both. These findings highlight the need for more nuanced and context‐minded perspective on trait–performance relations.

The present study investigates school context effects on psychosocial characteristics (academic selfconcept, peer relations, school satisfaction, and school anxiety) of high-achieving and gifted students. Students who did or did not make an early transition from elementary to secondary schools for high-achieving and gifted students in 5th grade in Berlin, Germany, are compared in their psychosocial development. The sample comprises 155 early-entry students who moved to an academically selective secondary school (Gymnasium) and 3,169 regular students who remained in elementary school until the end of 6th grade. Overall, a complex pattern of psychosocial development emerged for all students, with both positive and negative outcomes being observed. Specifically, the transition into academically selective leaming environments seemed to come at some cost for psychosocial development. Propensity score matching analysis isolating the effects of selective school intake and the school context effect itself revealed negative contextual effects of early transition to Gymnasium on academic self-concept and school anxiety; additionally, the positive trend in peer relations observed among regular students was not discernible among early-entry students.

The results therefore broaden the evidence on benefits of optimism by linking optimism to academic success in early adolescents but indicate only small and nonlinear associations.

Objective This study examined associations between the five‐factor personality traits and indicators of academic achievement (grades and test scores). A particular aim was to investigate whether personality‐achievement associations differ between primary and secondary educational contexts and whether these differences vary between differential learning environments, that is academic versus nonacademic secondary schools. Method We used two representative random samples from Germany: N = 3,658 6th graders in their last year of primary school and N = 2,129 9th graders attending different secondary school tracks (n = 566 academic track students; n = 1,563 nonacademic track students). Results First, our results confirmed positive associations between Conscientiousness, Openness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness and academic achievement as well as negative associations between academic achievement and Neuroticism. Second, associations with Conscientiousness were more pronounced for school grades than for test scores. Third, associations were higher for 6th than for 9th graders in the overall sample for all personality traits with the exception of Openness. Fourth, personality‐achievement associations differed between academic and nonacademic track students. Conclusion In sum, our results suggest the need for an educational stage‐specific perspective and contextually sensitive approach when examining personality‐achievement associations.

This longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relationship between negative life events and selfesteem during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 2272). Drawing on theories of human development over the lifespan and just-world theory, we analyzed age-graded changes in self-esteem and their interplay with negative life events at three measurement points over a 12-year period. We addressed both the short-term and the longer term effects of single as well as multiple negative life events on changes in self-esteem (socialization effects). We further investigated whether the pre-event level of self-esteem affected the likelihood of negative life events occurring (selection effects) and, finally, whether it had protective effects in terms of helping people adjust to negative events. Latent change models yielded four main findings: (i) self-esteem increased during young adulthood; (ii) socialization effects were observed over shorter and longer timespans, but (iii) selection effects were only found for multiple negative life events, with low self-esteem predicting a high number of negative life events; (iv) high preevent self-esteem acted as a protective factor, attenuating declines in self-esteem after experience of multiple negative life events.

Anxiety is common in late adulthood and can complicate adjustment in several areas. This study used data from 2 measurement points of a representative European longitudinal study (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) with a large sample size (N = 28,326) and a broad age range (45-90) to examine age effects on cross-sectional mean levels of anxiety as well as longitudinal mean-level changes over 2 years with respect to gender, education, and changes in physical and cognitive functioning. Furthermore, we analyzed generalizability of the findings for different European countries. Latent change models and locally weighted smoothing curves revealed 3 main findings: (1) Mean levels of anxiety were relatively stable over the course of middle adulthood and increased during late adulthood, (2) women and individuals with less education were more anxious than men and individuals with more education, and (3) increases in anxiety in late adulthood were associated with age-associated losses in physical and cognitive functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record

Abstract. Personality is a relevant predictor for important life outcomes across the entire lifespan. Although previous studies have suggested the comparability of the measurement of the Big Five personality traits across adulthood, the generalizability to childhood is largely unknown. The present study investigated the structure of the Big Five personality traits assessed with the Big Five Inventory-SOEP Version (BFI-S; SOEP = Socio-Economic Panel) across a broad age range spanning 11–84 years. We used two samples of N = 1,090 children (52% female, Mage = 11.87) and N = 18,789 adults (53% female, Mage = 51.09), estimating a multigroup CFA analysis across four age groups (late childhood: 11–14 years; early adulthood: 17–30 years; middle adulthood: 31–60 years; late adulthood: 61–84 years). Our results indicated the comparability of the personality trait metric in terms of general factor structure, loading patterns, and the majority of intercepts across all age groups. Therefore, the findings suggest both a reliable assessment of the Big Five personality traits with the BFI-S even in late childhood and a vastly comparable metric across age groups.

This study examined interrelations between three indicators of main challenges during adolescence: academic achievement, self-perceived peer acceptance, and self-esteem. An additional aim was to investigate whether the findings hold for girls and boys and across school types (academically oriented track vs. non-academically oriented track). We used a large German longitudinal study ( N = 7,977; mean age at t1= 13.5 years) with three measurement points over a period of four years (start of seventh grade, end of seventh grade, end of tenth grade). Cross-lagged panel and multi-group models revealed seven main findings: (1) We found general positive associations between academic achievement, perceived peer acceptance, and self-esteem. (2) Higher academic achievement predicted higher self-esteem, but not vice versa. (3) Self-esteem and peer acceptance showed mutual associations, but only in older adolescents between the end of seventh and end of tenth grades. (4) Peer acceptance slightly predicted lower levels of academic achievement in students on the non-academically oriented track. (5) The results held for both girls and boys, but (6) changed over the course of adolescence and (7) differed between school types. Taken together, our findings offer comprehensive insight into the relations between salient developmental tasks in adolescence.