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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–9Cite as

Personality and Academic Performance

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Synonyms

Academic performance; Big five; Five factor model; GPA; Grades; Personality

Definition

Personality refers to individual differences in the way we feel, think, and behave. Personality is the unique combination of characteristics and qualities that makes you “you” across situations and contexts. As such, personality is both fundamental for our understanding of and engagement with the world. Academic performance is the assessment of the extent to which an individual – typically a student – has achieved an educational goal. Most often, academic performance is operationalized as grades (e.g., grade point average (GPA)), or, alternatively, highest level of educational attainment.

Introduction

A high educational level is desirable not only for the individual but also their societies and associated economies. Educational success commonly leads to enhanced occupational status and high earnings (Pascarella and Terenzini 1991), and societies with well-educated workforces tend to enjoy...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Anna Vedel

  2. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Arthur E. Poropat

Authors
  1. Anna Vedel
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  2. Arthur E. Poropat
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Correspondence to Anna Vedel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Charlie Reeve

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Vedel, A., Poropat, A.E. (2017). Personality and Academic Performance. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_989-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_989-1

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