Personality in the Classroom: Interactions of Parental SES and Students’ Big Five in Predicting School Performance

Abstract

While socioeconomic status (SES) and personality have both been identified as relevant predictors of academic achievement, little is known about their possible interplay in predicting school performance. The present study used the latent moderated structural equations (LMS) method to investigate latent interactions between familial SES and parent-rated Big Five in a sample of German high school students (N = 3,043). Personality ratings administered in grade 7 were used to predict changes in school performance 2 years later under control for previous performance. Openness and Conscientiousness positively predicted German as well as mathematics grades over and above fluid intelligence, parental SES and competence measures. Openness and Conscientiousness also showed positive interactions with SES in line with the Matthew effect hypothesis. Their association with school performance was partly mediated by students’ competences. This evidence might be particularly relevant for planning school support programs and interventions targeting background disadvantages as well as teacher training.