Role of personality traits and gender on academic self-concept of adolescent students

The period of adolescence is a state of utter confusion and strain on the body and mind. Students in this age group are likely to build certain characteristics that influence their overall performances at school/college. This crucial stage of adolescents requires proper personality development to alter their behaviour in different situations and achieving their academic goals.

The present empirical study focuses on how different personality traits and gender plays an important part in understanding the academic self-concept of students.

The participants (N=180) of the study were selected using random sampling procedure in equal male(N=90) and female ratio(N=90) with age ranging from 15 to 19 years. Students were further classified into 4 equal groups (N=45) of personality traits using a self-report inventory. Academic self-concept of students was assessed using Academic Self-Concept Scale. The data was statistically analysed using SPSS version 20.0 by means of descriptive and inferential statistic Two-way ANOVA.

A statistically significant main effect of personality traits, F (3, 172) = 2.724, p <.05, ηp2=0.045, on student‘s academic self-concept was found indicating a small significant difference in the mean scores of thinking introverts (M=67.96, SD=6.31), thinking extroverts (M=69.89, SD=4.643), emotional introverts (M=67.42, SD=4.683) and emotional extroverts (M=66.80, SD=7.00). Gender and Interaction effect was found to be insignificant.

Personality traits plays a significant role in students‘ academic self-concept and should be identified for further academic success. Students with different personality traits have different behaviours and thinking processes and proficiency in achieving academic goals.