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Conscientiousness in Education: Its Conceptualization, Assessment, and Utility

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Psychosocial Skills and School Systems in the 21st Century

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality ((SSHE))

Abstract

Conscientiousness is the personality domain most strongly associated with academic performance and is similar to important drivers of educational success, such as grit and time management. There are many slightly different theoretical models that describe the constituent components (or facets) of conscientiousness. In this chapter, we outline the main theoretical models of conscientiousness and synthesize empirical research examining its underlying structure. We review the conscientiousness/academic achievement association for (a) the broad domain versus constituent facets of conscientiousness, (b) self-ratings versus observer ratings of conscientiousness, and (c) conscientiousness as a characteristic of teachers as well as students. We outline two main applications of conscientiousness in education: large-scale multi-country comparisons (such as PISA) and student selection for undergraduate or postgraduate study. These applications rely on accurate assessment procedures, raising issues with standard rating-scale assessments of conscientiousness. For this reason, we discuss two alternative directions for assessment: forced-choice assessments and anchoring vignettes. Lastly, given the research indicating that conscientiousness changes with time, we consider whether students’ conscientiousness can be enhanced as a way to increase educational success. In summary, this chapter outlines the conceptualization, measurement, and applications of conscientiousness in education.

The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect that of the University of Sydney or Griffith University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Griffith Taylor Building, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Lisa E. Kim & Carolyn MacCann

  2. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Road, Mount Gravatt, Nathan, QLD, 4152, Australia

    Arthur E. Poropat

Authors
  1. Lisa E. Kim
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  2. Arthur E. Poropat
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  3. Carolyn MacCann
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Correspondence to Lisa E. Kim .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Psychology, CUNY, Queens College and the Graduate Center,, Flushing, New York, USA

    Anastasiya A Lipnevich

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Franzis Preckel

  3. Professional Examination Service, Center for Innovative Assessments, New York, New York, USA

    Richard D. Roberts

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Kim, L.E., Poropat, A.E., MacCann, C. (2016). Conscientiousness in Education: Its Conceptualization, Assessment, and Utility. In: Lipnevich, A., Preckel, F., Roberts, R. (eds) Psychosocial Skills and School Systems in the 21st Century. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28606-8_7

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