Previous meta-analyses have consistently identified Conscientiousness as a robust predictor of academic performance, while findings for the other Big Five traits have been mixed or inconclusive. However, most existing meta-analytic evidence is based on zero-order correlations and does not account for the substantial intercorrelations among personality traits. Using a one-stage meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) approach, the present study reanalyzes data from 84 studies of university students (total N = 45,477) compiled in a previous meta-analysis to examine the unique associations between the Big Five traits and academic performance while explicitly modeling their shared variance. Conscientiousness remained the strongest predictor ( β = 0.199, p 0.001). Extraversion showed a significant negative association ( β = −0.062, p 0.001), whereas Agreeableness ( β = 0.034, p = 0.046) and Openness ( β = 0.060, p 0.001) showed small positive associations. Neuroticism was not significant ( β = −0.006, p = 0.771). Overall, the pattern is broadly consistent with prior meta-analytic evidence, but the structural model reveals a unique negative association for Extraversion that is not evident in zero-order correlations. This highlights the value of modeling the Big Five jointly when drawing inferences about personality–achievement relations.
Gul-E-Zahra et al. (Wed,) studied this question.