CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Personality is something everybody knows that it exists, but nobody knows that
what it is (Schneewind and Ruppert, 1998). It is certainly true that it is
difficult to put human personality which Goethe (1970) called the greatest
happiness for children of this earth into scientific terms. Personality
determines a set of important characteristics and that how people interact with
others. Human personality is the combination of a number of traits.
Personality can be measured as
a set of items usually questions about behaviour and feelings to which the
subjects have to respond by agreeing or disagreeing with that question or
statements. (Kline, 1993). In 1930 personality psychology became an
identifiable discipline in social sciences. During that time many separate
lines of inquiry came together for the field generated by Allport (1937), Murry
(1938) and Lewin (1935). Mary Laurence F. Fortu (n.d) described the following
as the components of personality which are habits, attitudes, interests,
values, principles and mental capacity or intelligence.
Academic performance is a major
issue among students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and the
community at large. Attempts have been made by researchers to unravel the
complexities surrounding academic performance. Psychologists have put forward a
lot of reasons why these disparities in performance exist. A lot of attention
had been paid to external factors such as type of school, teaching methods,
school location, instructional materials, teachers experience, and so on (WAEC,
2005). Many spend lots of money in order to secure good schools either for
their children or themselves and those who can afford it even invest on
education abroad as they believe this will enhance performance, and which in
turn gives an added advantage in terms of securing gainful employment. Opinions
vary as to why some students excel academically while others appear to be
underachievers. Many psychologists have consistently attempted to identify the
major predictors of individual academic performance. Factors such as
intelligence, self concept, gender, study habit, maturation, home background,
amongst others, just to mention a few, have been extensively explored as being
responsible for academic performance. Other factors that have been researched
into in the past include: child rearing patterns, peer group influence,
socio-economic background and learning environment. Another major factor that
is believed to be responsible for academic performance in students is their
personality traits. Traits Theorists have tried to identify the major traits
that characterize personality. Notable among these are Sigmund Freud in the
early 1900's, Gordon All port (1961), Cattell (1967), Hans Eysenck (1985)
Feldman (1994), McCrae and Costa (1987) and a host of others. Personality has
been defined in many ways by many psychologists who wrote on the concept.
According to Feldman (1994) in Daminabo (2008), Personality is the sum total of
the characteristics that differentiates people, or the stability of a person's
behavior across different situations. In other words it means those qualities
the individual is noted for. Traits on the other hand are "enduring
dimensions of personality characteristics which differentiates people from one
another" (Colman, 2003). Traits are therefore the sum total of stable
characteristics in a person across different times and situations, which make
him or her unique or distinct from others. This agrees with the definition by
Mischel 1981, (in Agbakwuru, 2000) which refer to personality traits as
consistent differences between the behaviors characteristic of two or more
people. It is also defined as "any distinguishable, relatively enduring
way in which one individual varies from another" (Guliford, 1959 in
Agbakwuru 2000).However, there has been an increasing interest in the big five
personality traits and the role they play as regards academic performance of
students. Of particular interest is the role that these traits play in the
academic performance of students. These traits, popularly known as the 'Big
Five’ include conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience,
extraversion and locus of control. The acronym CAOEL is used to describe them.
These personality traits affect academic performance in students, either
positively or negatively. And so parents, educationists, psychologists, counselors,
are all worried at the rate of decline of academic standard. Big Five otherwise
known as CAOEL has therefore been explored in order to find possible solutions
to the problem of underachievement amongst school students. The acronym CAOEL
denotes the traits: conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion
and locus of control to experience.
McCrae and Costa (1980)
researched extensively on these traits. A high score on Conscientiousness
shows a student who is self disciplined, careful, thorough, organized and
determined. Low scores on this trait portray indiscipline, carelessness,
disorganization and indifference. That student who scores highly on this trait
is expected to perform excellently well, academically and vice versa.
Agreeableness describes one who is sympathetic, trusting and cooperative.
Students with high scores on agreeableness are selfless, flexible and pleasant.
Such students work with others easily with little or no friction. Those scoring
low on this trait however find it difficult to get along with others. McCrae
and Costa 1988 in Daminabo, (2008) noted this to be psychotics, which refers to
a person who is skeptical, unsympathetic, uncooperative and rude. Low scores
are expected to affect academic performance negatively.
The researcher is therefore out
to examine what influence these personality traits have on the academic
performance of students.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problem of underachievement has assumed a worrisome dimension in the
Nigerian educational system. Desperate to make it anyhow, students have devised
various illegal means to succeed in examinations, even when they are not
academically competent. And unfortunately, the system has buckled under the
pressure. Examination malpractice has risen steadily to become a seemingly
untamable monster. It is increasingly becoming difficult to equate competence
of people with supposed academic performance as represented in their
certificates. Many candidates are unable to defend the result they supposedly
acquired honorably. And of course this has consistently led to inability to
compete effectively in the job market which has become a serious issue. Several
factors have been researched into in the past as to the cause of this social
malaise, but there seem to be indications that some hidden factors may be
responsible that needs unraveling. This desire to see this problem curbed gave
rise to this study and the researchers’ aim is to see if there is a way in
which the big five personality traits can help, especially from the perspective
of the analytical and scientific approach of measurement and evaluation.
The researcher has consequently
chosen to explore this problem among the students. This study is therefore
aimed at an examination of the influence of personality traits on academic
performance of the students.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are therefore to:
1. Find out there is any
significant relationship between personality trait and students academic
performance.
2. Determine the different
types of personality trait that can influence students academic performance
3. To examine the factors
influencing students academic performance.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Is there any
significant relationship between personality trait and students academic
performance?
2. What are the different
types of personality trait that can influence students academic performance?
3. What are the factors
influencing students academic performance?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO: There is no significant relationship between personality trait and students
academic performance
HA: There is significant relationship between personality trait and students
academic performance
1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will educate the
stakeholders in the education sector on how the individual personality traits
of students can influence their academic performance. This study will also
enlighten them on different types of personality traits and how this traits can
influence academic performance of students.
This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of
the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby
constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE
STUDY
This study on the impact of personality trait on the academic performance of
students in Nigeria covers all the students in Edo state, Nigeria by carefully
examining their different personality traits and its effect on student’s
academic performance. The study will also cover an overview of factors
hindering student’s academic performance.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint-
Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing
for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of
data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher
will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This
consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
1. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Personality: the combination of
characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character.
Performance: is the outcome of education — the extent to which a student,
teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals
Trait: a distinguishing quality or characteristic, typically one belonging to a
person.
Department | Education |
Project ID Code | EDU0010 |
Chapters | 5 Chapters |
No of Pages | 60 pages |
Reference | YES |
Format | Microsoft Word |
Price | ₦4000, $15 |
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Contact Us On | +2347043069458 |