Performance of College Students: Impact of Study Time and Study Habits

Available empirical research investigating the relationship that study time has with college student performance has seen mixed results. Positive, negative, and no relationship between the two variables has been reported (G. A. Krohn A. G. Lahmers R. M. Schmidt, 1983 Schmidt, R. M. 1983. Who maximizes what? Study in student time allocation. American Economic Review, 73: 23–28. Web of Science ® , Google Scholar). At a time when there is overwhelming evidence that students are devoting less time to their studies (Higher Education Research Institute, 2003 Higher Education Research Institute. 2003. The official press release for the American Freshmen 2002, Los Angeles: University of California. Google Scholar), it is critical for educators who desire to encourage and motivate their students to engage in productive study behavior to first understand the true nature of this relationship. The authors investigated the influence of a third variable, study habits. Based on a sample of business students, results showed some study habits had a positive direct relationship on student performance but others had a negative direct relationship. Results also showed 1 study habit moderated the relationship between study time and student performance positively, but another study habit moderated the relationship negatively. Discussion of the findings, implications, and directions for further research are also provided.