The impact of the Big Five personality traits on the academic performance of Business English undergraduates at Foreign Trade University

The impact of the Big Five personality traits on the academic performance of Business English undergraduates at Foreign Trade University

Nguyen Ngoc Diep ngocdiep.tnhp.99@gmail.com Foreign Trade University, Vietnam
Dinh Thi Ngoan ngoandt@ftu.edu.vn Foreign Trade University, Vietnam
Summary: 
The paper aims to investigate the impact of the Big Five personality traits on the academic performance of college students within the context of the Faculty of Business English at Foreign Trade University. A quantitative approach was applied in this study. Primary data was collected through an online questionnaire. Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) was used as the academic performance measure, whereas the Big Five personality traits were measured using the extra short version of the Big Five Inventory-2. Regression results showed that 41.2 percent of the variance in CGPA is explained by personality traits. Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were found to have significant and positive impacts on CGPA, while Neuroticism was found to have a significant negative impact. It is concluded that Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience enhance academic performance, and Neuroticism impairs it. Suggestions were made on creating an appropriate fit between teaching and assessment methods and individual differences in personality among college students. Limitations of the personality trait instrument and the academic performance measure were considered.
Keywords: 
Personality traits
Big Five
BFI-2-XS
academic performance
Grade Point Average
FBE undergraduates
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