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Cognitive skills, personality, and economic preferences in collegiate success

Author

Listed:
  • Burks, Stephen V.
  • Lewis, Connor
  • Kivi, Paul A.
  • Wiener, Amanda
  • Anderson, Jon E.
  • Götte, Lorenz
  • DeYoung, Colin G.
  • Rustichini, Aldo

Abstract

We collected multiple measures from 100 students at a small public undergraduate liberal arts college in the Midwestern US and later assessed their academic success. The “proactive” (hard-working, persistent) aspect of the Big Five trait of Conscientiousness and not its “inhibitive” (organized, careful) aspect is a large positive predictor for two graduation outcomes and grade point average (GPA). The Big Five trait of Agreeableness (“pro-sociality”) is a large and negative predictor for graduation outcomes. A non-standard cognitive skill measure (a backward-induction game) positively predicts graduation outcomes, in parallel with its success in predicting vocational student job success (Burks et al., 2009). Patient time preferences predict one graduation outcome and GPA.

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  • Burks, Stephen V. & Lewis, Connor & Kivi, Paul A. & Wiener, Amanda & Anderson, Jon E. & Götte, Lorenz & DeYoung, Colin G. & Rustichini, Aldo, 2015. "Cognitive skills, personality, and economic preferences in collegiate success," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 30-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:115:y:2015:i:c:p:30-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.01.007
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    Cited by:

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    3. Corgnet, Brice & Martin, Ludivine & Ndodjang, Peguy & Sutan, Angela, 2019. "On the merit of equal pay: Performance manipulation and incentive setting," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 23-45.
    4. Brice Corgnet & Simon Gaechter & Roberto Hernán González, 2020. "Working too much for too little: stochastic rewards cause work addiction," Working Papers 2007, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    5. Dániel Horn & Hubert János Kiss, 2020. "Time preferences and their life outcome correlates: Evidence from a representative survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, July.
    6. Gerhards, Leonie & Gravert, Christina, 2020. "Because of you I did not give up – Peer effects in perseverance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Lau Lilleholt, 2019. "Cognitive ability and risk aversion: A systematic review and meta analysis," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 14(3), pages 234-279, May.
    8. Peter Hoeschler & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "The Relative Importance of Personal Characteristics for the Hiring of Young Workers," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0142, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Jan 2018.
    9. Willadsen, Helene & Zaccagni, Sarah & Piovesan, Marco & Wengström, Erik, 2024. "Measures of cognitive ability and choice inconsistency," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 495-506.
    10. Beattie, Graham & Laliberté, Jean-William P. & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2018. "Thrivers and divers: Using non-academic measures to predict college success and failure," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 170-182.
    11. Maria Jose Roa & Sonia Di Giannatale & Jonathan Barboza & Juliana Gamboa Arbelaez, 2021. "Inclusive health and life insurance adoption: An empirical study in Guatemala," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 1053-1077, May.
    12. Tim Friehe & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch, 2018. "Predicting norm enforcement: the individual and joint predictive power of economic preferences, personality, and self-control," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 127-146, February.
    13. Daniel Horn & Hubert Kiss Janos, 2020. "Do individuals with children value the future more?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2010, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    14. Michelle Pleace & Nicky Nicholls, 2022. "Grit, motivation and university grades," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 90(1), pages 21-36, March.
    15. Piero Esposito & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "Drivers of skill mismatch among Italian graduates: the role of personality traits," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(40), pages 4642-4663, August.
    16. repec:cup:judgdm:v:14:y:2019:i:3:p:234-279 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Evangelos Mourelatos & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Manolis Tzagarakis, 2022. "Personality traits and performance in online labour markets," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 468-484, February.
    18. Cezary Kuśnierz & Aleksandra M. Rogowska & Iuliia Pavlova, 2020. "Examining Gender Differences, Personality Traits, Academic Performance, and Motivation in Ukrainian and Polish Students of Physical Education: A Cross-Cultural Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-21, August.
    19. Larbi Alaoui & Christian Fons-Rosen, 2016. "Know when to fold 'em: The grit factor," Economics Working Papers 1521, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Apr 2021.
    20. Daniel Horn & Hubert Janos Kiss, 2018. "Which preferences associate with school performance?—Lessons from an exploratory study with university students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-32, February.
    21. Alaoui, Larbi & Fons-Rosen, Christian, 2021. "Know when to fold’em: The flip side of grit," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    22. Humphries, John Eric & Kosse, Fabian, 2017. "On the interpretation of non-cognitive skills – What is being measured and why it matters," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 174-185.
    23. Thomas Meissner & Xavier Gassmann & Corinne Faure & Joachim Schleich, 2023. "Individual characteristics associated with risk and time preferences: A multi country representative survey," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 77-107, February.
    24. Vivek Sharma & Sudhir K. Jain, 2020. "Extending Habitus to Employment Preferences: Identifying Social-actors Influencing Employment Choices Including Self-employment Among Youth in J&K (India)," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 6(2), pages 261-281, July.
    25. An Huang & Paulo Santos, 2022. "Improving the reliability and validity of data on Big Five personality traits in developing countries," Monash Economics Working Papers 2022-04, Monash University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Graduation; Big Five; Conscientiousness; Aspect; Cognitive skill; Economic preferences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • C99 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Other

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