Personality, intelligence and approaches to learning as predictors of academic performance

Students completed four psychometric tests soon after arriving at university: the NEO–PI-R measure of the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992); the Study Process Questionnaire, which measures approaches to learning (Biggs, 1978); and two measures of cognitive ability: the Wonderlic IQ Test (Wonderlic, 1992) and the Baddeley Reasoning Test (Baddeley, 1968) of fluid intelligence (gf). A year later they completed comprehensive essay-based exams and received a mean score based on six examinations. Academic performance (AP) correlated with ability, achieving and deep learning approaches, Openness and Conscientiousness. Together, these variables explained 40% of the variance in AP. Path analyses indicated that the effects of ability on AP were mediated by personality and learning approaches.