Moderating effects of personality on the genetic and environmental influences of school grades helps to explain sex differences in scholastic achievement

Abstract

Girls consistently achieve higher grades than boys despite scoring lower on major standardized tests and not having higher IQs. Sex differences in non-cognitive variables such as personality might help to account for sex differences in grades. Utilizing a large sample of 17 year-old twins participating in the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS), we examined the roles of Achievement Striving, SelfControl, and Aggression on sex differences in grade point average (GPA). Each personality trait was a significant predictor of GPA, with sex differences in Aggression accounting for one-half the sex difference in GPA and genetic variance accounting for most of the overlap between personality and GPA. Achievement Striving and Self-Control moderated the genetic and environmental influences on GPA. Specifically, for girls but not boys, higher Achievement Striving and Self-Control were associated with less variability in GPA and greater genetic and environmental overlap with GPA. For girls, certain personality traits operate to shape a context yielding uniformly higher GPA, a process that seems absent in boys. Keywordsgrade point average; personality; sex differences; gene-environment interactions and correlations Girls get better school grades than boys. This is true in all subjects throughout elementary, middle, and high school, and even into college (American Association of University Women, 1998;Mau & Lynn, 2001;Perkins et al., 2004;Pomerantz et al., 2002;Willingham & Cole, 1997). Girls, however, do not have higher IQ's, and they do not score as well on some of the major standardized tests (American Association of University Women, 1998;Deary et al., 2007;Mau & Lynn, 2001). This has meant, in particular, that standardized test scores do not have the same predictive validity for college grades in men and women. For example, Stricker et al. (1993) found that a regression equation predicting college freshman grade point average on a 4.0 scale using Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores under-predicted women's firstsemester grades by .10 and over-predicted those of men by .11.To understand the reason for sex differences in the association between ability and school performance requires delineating the factors that contribute to both the under-prediction of NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptEur J Pers. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 March 11. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript girls' grades and the over-prediction of boys'. Historically, however, most research efforts have been devoted to understanding the male advantage in standardized test scores, with an eye to understanding the under-prediction of female grades, particularly in the areas of math and science. Varied explanations have been offered. For example, some have suggested that girls may take easier courses than boys and engage in fewer activities outside of the classroom that develop intellectual skills that are, directly or indirectly, measured by standardized tests (Entwisle et al., 1994;Lever, 1978;Loew...

Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries

“…Each of these personality traits was a significant predictor of GPA, with sex differences in aggression accounting for one-half of the gender differences in GPA. The finding of the present study about the mediation effect of student engagement provides additional empirical support to the claim of many researchers that gender differences in school performance lie in personality and motivation factors instead of cognitive factors (e.g., Freudenthaler et al, 2008;Hicks et al, 2008;Johnson, 2008;Ruban & McCoach, 2005). However, it is noteworthy that the mediation effect of student engagement on the association between gender and academic performance was small in the present study with a large sample size.…”

“…Although no previous studies have investigated the role of student engagement in the achievement gender gap, herein, the finding that student engagement mediated the association between gender and academic performance is in line with those of previous studies that investigated the role of personality and motivation factors in gender differences in school achievement. For instance, Hicks et al (2008) found that achievement striving, self-control, and aggression accounted for gender differences in grade point average (GPA). Each of these personality traits was a significant predictor of GPA, with sex differences in aggression accounting for one-half of the gender differences in GPA.…”

“…It is important to understand the factors underlying this gender gap in academic achievement. Several researchers (e.g., Freudenthaler, Spinath, & Neubauer, 2008;Hicks, Johnson, Iacono, & McGue, 2008;Johnson, 2008;Ruban & McCoach, 2005) have argued that gender differences in school performance lie in personality and motivation factors instead of cognitive factors. In the realms of personality and motivation, student engagement is an important variable to account for gender differences in school achievement.…”

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence

“…Genetically sensitive studies have largely focused on intelligence, consistently showing that the phenotypic correlation between intelligence and educational achievement is mediated genetically to a substantial extent (43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50). Only a handful of studies have considered genetic contributions to educational achievement from other traits in addition to intelligence, such as self-efficacy (51), motivation (52,53), personality (54), behavior problems (55)(56)(57)(58), and perceptions of home environment (59) and school environment (60). Because these behavioral traits are correlated with each other and with educational achievement, adding up their separate genetic contributions to educational achievement could exceed the heritability of educational achievement.…”

Sexism and Aggression in Adolescence—How Do They Relate to Perceived Academic Achievement?

“…Girls and boys with higher scores for hostile sexism who were also more aggressive were at a higher risk of experiencing problems with their academic achievement. Externalizing behaviour problems was negatively related to poor academic achievement [13,67]. Although there were not significant differences in the studied model according to sex, this is where males may be more disadvantaged than females, given their higher scores in hostile sexism and aggressiveness.…”