Abstract
Teaching and training are becoming more student-oriented, thus requiring a higher degree of self-regulated learning, involving agency and cyclical adaptation to attain academic success and engagement in academic activities. Previous research has shown how students who set learning-oriented goals, have a greater ability to focus on cognitive tasks and establish a greater commitment to achievement, are more conscientious regarding their academic success. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify how personality characteristics like goal orientation, self-control, organization and persistence, are reflected in self-regulated learning processes, considering differences in participants from two different cultures. The participants, 402 university students (218 female and 184 male; 50.7% from Brazil and 49.3% from Portugal; mean age 21.66) were asked to answer two inventories, assessing self-regulation and conscientiousness. The results revealed that conscientiousness seems to be a personality trait which is significantly correlated with self-regulated learning and with its different phases in both the Portuguese and Brazilian samples. Moreover, significant differences were found regarding self-regulated learning overall and performance/volition processes specifically in favour of the Brazilian students. However, Portuguese students revealed to be more conscientious. The results obtained in the present study are relevant for a better understanding of the personality, contextual and cultural factors in order to promote interventions that can create conditions for students to be more active and autonomous in managing their learning processes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackerman, P. L. (1994). Intelligence, attention, and learning: Maximal and typical performance. In D. K. Detterman (Ed.), Current topics in human intelligence: Theories of intelligence (pp. 1–27). Norwood: Ablex.
Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2003). Trait complexes, cognitive investment, and domain knowledge. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Perspectives on the psychology of abilities, competencies, and expertise (pp. 1–30). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Andrzejewski, C. E., Davis, H. A., Shalter Bruening, P., & Poirier, R. R. (2016). Can a self-regulated strategy intervention close the achievement gap? Exploring a classroom-based intervention in 9th grade earth science. Learning & Individual Differences, 49, 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.013.
Barrick, M., & Mount, M. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x.
Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Judge, T. A. (2001). Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9(1–2), 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2389.00160.
Barros, A., & Veiga Simão, A.M. (2016).Selfregulation of Learning and personality traits in college students. InF.H. Veiga (coord.), Proceedings. II Congresso Internacional Envolvimento dos Alunos na Escola: Perspetivas da Psicologia e Educação. Motivação para o desempenho académico, pp. 1024-1036. Lisboa: Instituto de Educação da Universidade de Lisboa.
Basso, C., Graf, L.P., Lima, F. B., Schmidt, B., Bardagi, M. P. (2013). Organização de tempo e métodos de estudo: Oficinas com estudantes universitários. Revista Brasileira de Orientação Profissional, 14 (2), 277-288. Disponível em http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_issues&pid=1679-3390&lng=pt&nrm=iso
Bidjerano, T., & Dai, D. Y. (2007). The relationship between the big-five model of personality and self-regulated learning strategies. Learning & Individual Differences, 17(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.02.001.
Busato, V. V., Prins, F. J., Elshout, J. J., & Hamaker, C. (2000). Intellectual ability, learning style, personality, achievement motivation and academic success of psychology students in higher education. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(6), 1057–1068. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00253-6.
Caprara, G. V., Vecchione, M., Alessandri, G., Gerbino, M., & Barbaranelli, C. (2011). The contribution of personality traits and self-efficacy beliefs to academic achievement: A longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 78–96. https://doi.org/10.1348/2044-8279.002004.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2003). Personality traits and academic examination performance. European Journal of Personality, 17(3), 237–250. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.473.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2005). Personality and intellectual competence. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Chang, L., Mak, M. C. K., Li, T., Wu, B. P., Chen, B. B., & Lu, H. J. (2011). Cultural adaptations to environmental variability: An evolutionary account for east-west differences. Educational Psychology Review, 23, 99–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9149-0.
Connelly, B., & Ones, D. (2010). An other perspective on Personality: Meta-Analytic integration of observers’ accuracy and predictive validity. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1092–122. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021212.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.
De Feyter, T., Caers, R., Vigna, C., & Berings, D. (2012). Unraveling the impact of the Big Five personality traits on academic performance: the moderating and mediating effects of self-efficacy and academic motivation. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(4), 439–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.03.013.
De Fruyt, F., & Mervielde, I. (1996). RIASEC types and big five traits as predictors of employment status and nature of employment. Personnel Psychology, 52(3), 701–727. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1999.tb00177.x.
De Pauw, S. S. W., Mervield, I., & Van Leeuwen, K. G. (2009). How are traits related to problem behavior in preschoolers? Similarities and contrats between temperament and personality. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(3), 309–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9290-0.
Douglas, H. E., Bore, M., & Munro, D. (2016). Coping with university education: The relationship of time management behavior and work engagement with the five factor model aspects. Learning and Individual Differences, 45, 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2015.12.004.
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ predicting academic performance in adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01641.x.
Eilam, B., Zeidner, M., & Aharon, I. (2009). Student conscientiousness, self-regulated learning, and science achievement: An explorative field study. Psychology in the Schools, 46(5), 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20387.
Frison, L.M.B, & Miranda, C.A. (2019). Circuito de autorregulação da aprendizagem: interlocuções com os universitários. Educação em Análise, 4 (1), 57–81. https://doi.org/10.5433/1984-7939.2019v4n1p57
Furnham, A., Monsen, J., & Ahmetoglu, G. (2009). Typical intellectual engagement, big five personality traits, approaches to learning and cognitive ability predictors pf academic performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 769–782. https://doi.org/10.1348/978185409X412147.
G*power (n.d.) retrieved in https://www.psychologie.hhu.de/arbeitsgruppen/allgemeine-psychologie-und-arbeitspsychologie/gpower.html
Hadwin, A., Järvelä, S., & Miller, M. (2017). Self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared regulation in collaborative learning environments. In P. A. Alexander, D. H. Schunk & J. A. Greene. Handbook of self-Regulation of Learning and Performance (pp 83-106). Routledge.
Heaven, P., Ciarrochi, J., & Vialle, W. (2007). Conscientiousnness and eysenckian psychoticism as predictors of school grades. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 535–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.07.028.
Kappe, R., & Flier, H. (2010). Using multiple and specific criteria to assess the predictive validity of the Big Five personality factors on academic performance. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(1), 142–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.11.002.
Koestner, R., Bernieri, F., & Zuckerman, M. (1992). Self-regulation and consistency between attitudes, traits and behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167292181008.
Komorraju, M., Karau, S. J., & Schmeck, R. R. (2009). Role of the big five personality traits in predicting college students' academic motivation and achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(1), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2008.07.001.
Komarraju, M., Karau, S. J., Schmeck, R. R., & Avdic, A. (2011). The big five personality traits, learning styles, and academic achievement. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 472–477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.04.019.
Lopes da Silva, A., Duarte, A., Sá, I., & Veiga-Simão, M. (2004). Aprendizagem Auto-regulada pelo Estudante - Perspectivas Psicológicas e Educacionais. Porto: Porto Editora.
Liang, Y.-W., & Chu, C. M. (2009). Personality traits and personal and organizational inducements: Antecedents of workaholism. Social Behavior and Personality, 37(5), 645–660. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2009.37.5.645.
Lievens, F., Coetsier, P., De Fruyt, F., & De Maeseneer, J. (2002). Medical students' personality characteristics and academic performance: A five-factor model perspective. Medical Education, 36(11), 1050–1056. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01328.x.
MacCann, C., Duckworth, A. L., & Roberts, R. D. (2009). Empirical identification of the major facets of conscientiousness. Learning & Individual Differences, 19(4), 451–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.03.007.
Matthews, G., Schwean, V. L., Campbell, S. E., Saklofske, D. H., & Mohamed, A. A. R. (2000). Personality, self-regulation, and adaptation. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 171–207). San Diego: Academic Press.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1990). Personality in adulthood. New York: The Guilford Press.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1997). Personality traits structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, 52(5), 509–516. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.5.509.
Miranda, C.A.G.R., & Frison, L.M.B. (2020). Autorregulação da aprendizagem: oficinas realizadas no Ensino Superior. In: L.M.B. Frison, & E. Boruchovitch (Orgs.). Autorregulação da aprendizagem: cenários, desafios, perspetivas para o contexto educativo (pp 237-252), Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Vozes.
Monteiro, S., Almeida, L., Cruz, J., & Franco, A. (2015). The relationship of personality, study practice and learning environments on excelent engineering students. Análise Psicológica, 33(1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.953.
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., & Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist, 51(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.77.
Ntalianis, F. (2010). Do personality and learning climate predict competence for learning? An investigation in a greek academic seting. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(6), 664–668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.08.003.
O'Connor, B. P. (2002). A quantitative review of the comprehensiveness of the five-factor model in relation to popular personality inventories. Assessment, 9(2), 188–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191102092010.
O'Connor, M., & Paunonen, S. (2007). Big five personality predictors of post-secondary academic performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(5), 971–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.03.017.
Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). San Diego: Academic Press.
Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014996.
Poropat, A. E. (2013). A meta-analysis of adult-rated child personality and academic performance in primary education. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(2), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12019.
Schunk, D. H., & Ertmer, P. (2000). Self-regulation and academic learning: Self-efficacy enhancing interventions. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Self-regulation: Theory, research and applications (pp. 631–649). Orlando: Academic Press.
Schunk, D. H., & Zimmerman, B. J. (Eds.). (1994). Self-regulation of learning and performance: Issues and educational implications. New York: Guilford.
Shiner, R. L., & Masten, A. S. (2002). Transactional links between personality and adaptation from childhood through adulthood. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 580–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00508-1.
Shiner, R. L., Masten, A. S., & Roberts, J. M. (2003). Childhood personality foreshadows adult personality and life outcomes two decades later. Journal of Personality, 71(6), 1145–1170. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.7106010.
Soley, P., & Pelissoni , A. (2020). As dimensões da autorregulação da aprendizagem no contexto do Ensino Superior. In: L.M.B. Frison, & E. Boruchovitch (Orgs.). Autorregulação da aprendizagem: cenários, desafios, perspetivas para o contexto educativo (pp 2157-236), Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Vozes.
Spinath, B., Spinath, F. M., Harlaar, N., & Plomin, R. (2006). Predicting school achievement from general cognitive ability, self-perceived ability, and intrinsic value. Intelligence, 34(4), 363–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.11.004.
Steel, P., & Klingsieck, K. (2016). Academic procrastination: Psychological antecedents revisited. Australian Psychologist, 51(1), 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12173.
Steinmayr, R., Bipp, T., & Spinath, B. (2011). Goal orientations predict academic performance beyond intelligence and personality. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(2), 196–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.11.026.
Tang, M., & Neber, H. (2008). Motivation and self-regulated science learning in high-achieving students: Differences related to nation, gender, and grade-level. High Ability Students, 19(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598130802503959.
Veiga Simão, A. M., & Frison, L. (2013). Auto-regulacão da aprendizagem: abordagens teóricas e desafios para as práticas em contextos educativos. Cadernos de Educação FaE/PPGE/UFPel, 45, 02–20.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13–39). New York: Academic Press.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2013). From cognitive modeling to self-regulation: A social cognitive career path. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2013.794676.
Zuffianò, A., Alessandri, G., Gerbino, M., Luengo Kanacri, B. P., di Giunta, L., Milioni, M., & Caprara, G. V. (2012). Academic achievement: The unique contribution of self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulated learning beyond intelligence, personality traits, and self-esteem. Learning and Individual Differences, 23, 158–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.07.010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This research has a complete compliance with Ethical Standards.
For the participants it was guaranteed the anonymity, with omission of all identifying details except age and sex. It was guaranteed the confidentiality of the individual data obtained. Participants were also informed that their participation in the study was voluntary and that they had the possibility to withdraw at any time.
The datasets generated during and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Ethical approval
The study was approved by the research ethics committee of the institutions where the authors are affiliated.
Informed consent
Informed consent for participation was obtained before the filling out of the questionnaires.
Conflicts of interest
There are no potential conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barros, A., Simão, A.M.V. & Frisson, L. Self-regulation of learning and conscientiousness in Portuguese and Brazilian samples. Curr Psychol 41, 7835–7842 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01232-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01232-y