Abstract
According to the person-environment fit theory, students choose their academic specialization based on their personality characteristics. However, existing research on personality trait differences across university majors has investigated few cultural contexts, relied on a limited set of measurement instruments, and offered inconsistent results. The current study addresses these shortcomings by exploring the relationship between student personality and university major choice based on the administration of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) to 449 students pursuing six different majors at a Romanian university. The analysis revealed that students’ personality traits varied significantly with their specialization. Notably, those pursuing a sports major exhibited the lowest neuroticism levels, while students in teacher education had significantly lower activity levels. Additionally, the study found that gender moderated the relationship between personality and specialization. These findings suggest that understanding students' personalities can aid in predicting their career interests. Furthermore, this knowledge can assist academic staff in adapting their teaching approaches to enhance student engagement in the learning process.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Coșa Lucica; Cernat Vasile], The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Coșa Lucica] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Coșa, L.E., Cernat, V. Personality and specialization choice. Curr Psychol 43, 15602–15610 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05511-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05511-2