Abstract
In education it is important for applied research systematically to apply and test current psychological theories. However oversimplification of a theory will generally lead to inappropriate hypotheses and hence to inconclusive or inconsistent results. In research on personality and academic attainment it has been common to derive hypotheses about the effect of neuroticism directly from an early Hullian formulation. Examples in terms of the academic behaviour of students are used to explain recent adaptations of this basic theory. In particular it is necessary to distinguish between “trait” and “state” anxiety and to incorporate allowances for the effect of previous habit systems. Strongly established habits will control the type of behaviour elicited by drive stimuli, such as imminent examinations.
Anxiety, even as a trait variable, can be seen as operating in opposite directions, facilitating or debilitating performance according to the nature of the individual and of the drive stimuli. In the progression from primary to higher education there will be a tendency for individuals whose high neuroticism adversely affects their performance to be eliminated; hence a positive correlation between achievement and neuroticism at this level might be anticipated.
While there is considerable complexity in the relationship between anxiety and achievement, it is clear that introversion is consistently linked with success in higher education. This high performance is probably due to the introvert's better study habits and his ability to become conditioned easily to the predominant academic mores. In addition the build-up of reactive inhibition in extraverts during lectures or prolonged periods of study is likely to lead to “avoidance symptoms” in time.
Résumé
Dans l'enseignement il importe que la recherche expérimentale applique avec méthode les théories psychologiques classiques pour les mettre à l'épreuve. Pourtant, la simplification abusive d'une théorie mène souvent à des hypothèses inadéquates et à des résultats non concluants ou incompatibles. Dans la recherche sur la personnalité et la réussite universitaire on a souvent voulu tirer directement d'une formulation ancienne de Hull des hypothèses sur les effets du caractère névrotique. On cite des exemples de conduite scolaire des étudiants, pour montrer quelques adaptations récentes de cette théorie fondamentale. Il faut distinguer en particulier entre l'anxiété comme “trait” et l'anxiété comme “condition”, et prendre en compte l'effet du système antérieur des habitudes. Les habitudes qui sont fermement établies modèlent les types de conduite provoqués par les stimuli significatifs, tels que, par exemple, les examens imminents.
On peut voir la variable de l'anxiété, considérée comme “trait”, agir de façons opposées en facilitant ou en entravant la réussite en fonction des caractéristiques de l'individu et des stimulants significatifs. Dans la progression de l'enseignement primaire à l'enseignement supérieure on observe une élimination progressive des individus dont le caractère névrotique exerce un effet défavorable sur la réussite; on peut par conséquent prédire une corrélation positive entre les résults et le caractère névrotique au niveau universitaire.
Bien que les rapports entre l'anxiété et la réussite soient des plus complexes, il est évident que, au niveau de l'enseignement supérieur, il y a une liaison assez forte entre l'introversion et le succès. Il est probable que le niveau élevé de réussite est dû aux meilleures habitudes de travail de l'introverti et à sa capacité de s'adapter facilement aux moeurs universitaires dominantes. En outre, l'accumulation d'une inhibition réactive chez les extrovertis, pendant les cours ou les périodes d'étude prolongées tend à produire des “symptômes d'annulation”.
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Eysenck, H.J. Personality and attainment: An application of psychological principles to educational objectives. High Educ 1, 39–52 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01956880
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01956880