Predicting Grades in College from the California Psychological Inventory

Abstract

To forecast four-year, two-year, and single-course grades in college, a California Psychological Inventory (CPI) equation (30.60 - .26Wb + .35Re -. l9Gi + .39Ai + .22Ie + .36Py) was developed. Cross-validational coefficients for scores on the equation were .38 for 326 males and .36 for 570 females.

Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big five correlates of GPA and SAT scores.

“…This distinction is also related to Hough's (1992) distinction between dependability and achievement, or conscientiousness in reference to others' aims versus conscientiousness in reference to one's own aims. Drawing from Gough and Lanning (1986), and from intuitive notions of college achievement as necessitating more independent approaches to schoolwork, we hypothesized that success in high school would entail achievement via conformance and thus be linked to Conscientiousness, whereas success in college would entail both achievement via conformance and via independence and thus be linked to both Conscientiousness and Openness. Although the findings are consistent with our expectations for Conscientiousness, the general lack of Openness effects on GPA was surprising.…”

The validity of physical aggression in predicting adolescent academic performance

“…This study investigated the validity of trait physical aggression as a predictor of adolescent academic performance, beyond what is accounted for by the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). Researchers have long been examining factors or characteristics that are related to academic performance, from intellectual level to personality (Balkin, 1987; Edwards, 1967; Gough & Lanning, 1986; Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2004). However, little research has attempted to examine the impact that aggression may have on academic performance.…”

The Relationship between Personality Characteristics and Academic Success in Law School

“…Students who evidenced higher levels of academic performance during their first year of law school tended to have a high interest in achievement. Previous research shows that the Achievement via Independence scale correlates significantly with college students' grade point average, yet there is only a low correlation with intelligence (Gough & Lanning, 1986). Thus, it would appear that students who score high on this scale and who also achieve a high grade point average, do so primarily on the basis of a high need for achievement and only secondarily on the basis of intelligence.…”

“…As was previously discussed, there have been a few studies that have used psychological measures to evaluate the stress levels of law students. While we know of no other studies that have evaluated the effectiveness of using the CPI to predict law school performance, there have been a few studies that have used the CPI to assess college, medical and dental school achievement (Gough & Hall, 1964;Gough & Kirk, 1970;Gough & Lanning, 1986). What these studies show is that the CPI can be useful as an additional factor when used in conjunction with the traditional measures to assess or predict student performance.…”