The longitudinal interplay of personality and school experiences in adolescence

Abstract

The school environment is one key developmental context that is assumed to shape individual characteristics during adolescence. However, little is known about which school experiences are central to personality change or whether school experiences and personality co-shape each other over time. We address this gap by examining the longitudinal interplay between seven school experiences in the three domains of achievement, social relationships, and well-being, and the Big Five personality traits at four measurement points from fifth to eighth grade. By using data from the German TRAIN study ( N = 3,473, MageT1 = 11.1 years, 45% female), we estimated bivariate latent growth curve models and cross-lagged panel models to illustrate this longitudinal interplay. Results demonstrated correlated change between school experiences and personality with differentiated patterns for achievement variables and a general longitudinal interplay with the social relationship and well-being variables. Furthermore, we found cross-lagged effects in both directions, although there were more effects of personality on school experiences. The most consistent predictor of school experiences was conscientiousness, whereas well-being in school in particular was related to personality change 1 year later. We integrate our findings into the current picture of personality development in adolescence and the role of school-related environmental factors.

Personality maturation through sense of mastery? Longitudinal evidence from two education‐to‐work transition studies

“…This finding is in line with research reporting a link between achievement-related experiences at school (Israel et al, 2022) and work (Le et al, 2014) and changes in Conscientiousness.…”

Fluid Intelligence and Competence Development in Secondary Schooling: No Evidence for a Moderating Role of Conscientiousness

“…Research has identified students’ cognitive abilities and personality traits—especially conscientiousness—as important predictors of learning gains in school ( Heaven and Ciarrochi 2008 ; Israel et al 2019 , 2022 ; Spengler et al 2016 ). However, comparatively little is known about whether students profit disproportionately from being both smart and diligent.…”

“…Besides cognitive abilities, inter-individual differences in how people habitually think, feel, and act—their personality traits—explain students’ academic success ( Lechner et al 2017 ; Poropat 2009 , 2014 ). Here, the Big Five trait conscientiousness emerged as the most consistent predictor of academic performance ( Dumfart and Neubauer 2016 ; Laidra et al 2007 ; Lechner et al 2017 ) and, to a lesser extent, increases over time in academic performance ( Heaven and Ciarrochi 2008 ; Israel et al 2019 , 2022 ; Spengler et al 2016 ). Whereas previous research was mainly interested in extracting the unique and incremental contributions of cognitive ability and personality, less is known about their possible interaction (but see Ziegler et al 2012 ; Lechner et al 2019 ).…”

A closer look at the domain‐specific associations of openness with language achievement: Evidence on the role of intrinsic value from two large‐scale longitudinal studies

“…As far as we know, this adds to the body of literature as we provide evidence beyond prior cross‐sectional findings (e.g., Marsh et al, 2006; Zhang & Ziegler, 2016; for an exception, see Caprara et al, 2011). This longitudinal approach is important as evidence regarding the longitudinal associations between personality traits and academic achievement in general is still scarce (for a recent exception; see Israel et al, 2022,). Also, our study adds to the literature by considering both grades and standardized test scores and by differentiating between listening, reading, and writing as important subskills of language achievement.…”

“…Previous research has rarely considered the longitudinal associations of personality with achievement (Brandt et al, 2021; Göllner et al, 2017; Israel et al, 2019; Tackman et al, 2017), and most prior studies have focused exclusively on conscientiousness (for an exception, see Israel et al, 2022). Building on this research, we investigated the associations of openness with language achievement and the mediating role of intrinsic value using two large‐scale longitudinal data sets.…”