Predictors of Academic Performance: General Factor of Personality and Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The existence of higher-order factors of personality has attracted significant attention in recent years. Specifically, the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and meta-traits; Stability and Plasticity, as a result of several studies reporting moderate-to-strong correlations between the Big Five personality dimensions, which were originally conceptualised as orthogonal. However, the existence and influence of higher-order factors still remains unclear, with opposing explanations that argue the covariances are a statistical artifact derived from correlated measurement errors. Extending the existing literature, the present study (N = 688) analyzed pre-existing data from a questionnaire administered between 2010 to 2013 to third-year undergraduates. This study supported the presence of a GFP, but not for the meta-traits. In order to attain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the GFP, the relationship between the single higher-order factor and an established construct, namely emotional intelligence (EI), was investigated, which revealed a large overlap between the GFP and EI (r = .94). Furthermore, it was reported that the GFP was a small but significant predictor of academic performance (AP), while EI was not. Severe multicollinearity prevented the examination of the incremental validity the GFP may have had on EI. Therefore, as a substitute Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) was investigated instead of EI, it was reported that the GFP did not have incremental validity above TER. This study yielded mixed findings and, thus, highlights the need for future research of higher-order factors on personality and the extent to which they offer anything above the existing established personality structures.