Prediction of students’ adjustment to university on the basis of personality and goal orientation

Document Type : Scientific Articles

Authors

Shiraz University

Abstract

Abstract
The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of personality and goal orientation in students’ adjustment to university. Method of research was correlation and the statistical population was all the Behbahan Islamic Azad University students. Five hundred twenty three students who were selected by random multi-stage cluster sampling method, completed the short form of Goldberg’s Big Five Personality Inventory (Khormaei & Farmani, 2014), Achievement Goals Questionnaire (Elliot & McGregor, 2001), and Students’ Adjustment to College Questionnaire (Baker & Siryk, 1984). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis. The findings showed that there were significant relations of personality traits and goal orientation to students’ adjustment to university. Multiple regression analysis showed that personality traits and goal orientation significantly predicted student's adjustment to college. Totally, personality traits and goal orientation could explain 37 % of variances of students’ adjustment to university, 24% of variances of academic adjustment, 25% of variances of social adjustment, 36% of variances of personal-emotional adjustment, and 20% of variances of institutional attachment. The findings suggested that personality and goal orientation play effective role in students’ adjustment to university.

Keywords


Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: goals, structures, and student motivation.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 48, 261-271.
18.Amini, L; Heidary, M; Daneshparvar, H. (2015).Personality Traits and their Impacts on the Mental Health of Battered Women. Journal of Midwifery & Reproductive Health, 3(2), 349-354.
19.Asuquo, I. M; Kalu, I. M. (2016). Goal orientation, adaptive learning strategies and academic achievement of community health students in primary health care. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioral Science, 13(1), 1-10.
20.Baker, R. W; Siryk, B. (1984). Measuring adjustment to college. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 179-189.
21.Baker, R.W; Siryk, B. (1989). Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ): Manual. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
22.Crede, M; Niehorster, S. (2012). Adjustment to college as measured by the students’ adaptation to college questionnaire: A quantitative review of its structure and relationships with correlates and consequences. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 133-165.
23.Dorros, S; Hanzal, A; Segrina, C. (2008). The big five personality traits and perceptions of touch to intimate and nonintimate body regions. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1067-1073.
24.Dupeyrat, C; Marine, C. (2005). Implicit theories of intelligence, goal orientation, cognitive engagement and achievement: A test of Dweck’s model with returning to school adults. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 43-59.
25.Elias, H; Noordin. N; Mahyuddin, R. H. (2010). Achievement motivation and self-efficacy in relation to adjustment among University students. Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3), 333-339.
26.Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34, 169–189.
27.Elliot, A. J; McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 501- 519.
28.Elliot, A. J; McGregor, H. A; Gable, S. (1999). Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(3), 549.
29.Fayard, J. V; Roberts, B. W; Robins, R. W; Watson, D. (2012). Uncovering the affective core of conscientiousness: The role of self-conscious emotions. Journal of personality, 80(1), 1-32.
30.Friedlander, L. J., Reid, G. J., Shupak, N., Cribbie, R. (2007). Social support, self-esteem, and stress as predictors of adjustment to university among first-year undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 48(3), 259–274.
31.Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (Vol. 7, pp.1-28). Tilburg, the Netherlands: Tilburg University Press.
32.Grant, H; & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 541-553.
33.Graziano, W. G; Tobin, R. M. (2009). Agreeableness. In M. R. Leary & R. H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 46–61). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press
34.Gul, F; Shehzad, S. (2012). Relationship between metacognition, goal orientation and academic achievement. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47, 1864–1868.
35.Harackiewicz, J. M; Barron, K. E; Tauer, J. M; Carter, S. M; Elliot, A. J. (2000). Short-term and long-term consequences of achievement goals: Predicting interest and performance over time. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92 (2), 316–330.
36.Heydarei, A; Daneshi, R. (2015). An investigation on the relationship of family emotional climate, personal-social adjustment and achievement motivation with academic achievement and motivation among third grade high school male students of Ahvaz. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Learning, 1(1), 6-13.
37.Ishak, N. A; Daitawi, M. T; Ibrahim, Y. S; Mustafa, F. T. (2011). Moderating effect of gender mediator  variable  distinction  in  social  psycholo-gical  research: Conceptual, strategic  and  statistical  consideration.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
38.Jensen, M. (2015). Personality traits, learning and academic achievements. Journal of Education and Learning, 4(4), 91-118.
39.Kemmelmeier, M; Danielson, C; Bastten, J. (2005). What’s in a grade? Academic success and political orientation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1386-1399.
40.Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd. Ed.). NY: Guilfrod Press.

41.Kurtz, J. E; Puher, M.A; Cross, N. A. (2012). Prospective prediction of college adjustment using self and informant rated personality traits. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94(6), 630-637.

42.Laidra, K; Pullman, H; Allik, J. (2007). Personality and intelligence as predictors of academic achievement: A cross-sectional study from elementary to secondary school. Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 42(3), 441–451.
43.Lianos, P.G. (2015). Parenting and social competence in school: The role ofpreadolescents' personality traits, Journal of Adolescence, 41, 109-120.
44.Luo, W; Hogan, D; Paris, S. G. (2011). Predicting Singapore students’ achievement goals in their English study: Self-construal and classroom goal structure. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(5), 526–535.
45.Marcela, V. (2015). Learning strategy, personality traits and academic achievement of university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 3473–3478.
46.McCrae, R. R; Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(1), 81–90.
47.McCrae, R. R; Costa, P. T. (2008). Empirical and theoretical status of the five-factor model of personality traits. The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment, 1, 273-294.
48.Nazione, S; Laplante, C; Smith, S. W; Cornacchione, J; Russell, J; Stohl, C. (2011). Memorable messages for navigating college Life. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 39(2), 123–143.
49.Petska, K. S. (2006). Using personality variables to predict academic success in personalized system of instruction. For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
50.Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts. P.R. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation, (pp. 451–502) San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
51.Pintrich, P. R; Marx, R. W; Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual  change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63, 167-199.
52.Reed-Victor, E. (2004). Individual differences and early school adjustment: Teacher appraisals of young children with special needs. Early Child Development and Care, 174(1), 59-79.
53.Rienties, B; Tempelaar, D. (2013). The role of cultural dimensions of international and Dutch students on academic and social integration and academic performance in the Netherlands. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(2), 188–201.
54.Senko, C., Durik, A. M., Patel, L., Lovejoy, C. M., & Valentiner, D. (2013). Performance-approach goal effects on achievement under low versus high challenge conditions. Learning and Instruction, 23(1), 60–68.
55.Seong, C. (2014). College freshmen’s self-efficacy, effort regulation, perceived stress and their adaptation to college. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2), 107-117.
56.Steinmayr, R; Bipp, T; Spinath, B. (2011). Goal orientations predict academic performance beyond intelligence and personality. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(2), 196–200.
57.Suso-Ribera, C; Gallardo-Pujol, D. (2016). Personality and health in chronic pain: Have we failed to appreciate a relationship? Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 7–11.
58.Tian, L; Yu, T; Huebner, E. S. (2017). Achievement goal orientations and adolescents’ subjective well-being in school: The mediating roles of academic social comparison directions. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1-11.
59.Turner, E. A; Chandler, M; Heffer, R. W. (2009). The influence of parenting styles, achievement motivation, and self-efficacy on academic performance in college students. Journal of College Student Development, 50(3), 337–346.
60.Van Boekel, M; Martin, J. M. (2014). Examining the relation between academic rumination and achievement goal orientation. Individual Differences Research, 12(4), 153–169.
61.Wu, H; Garza, E; Guzman, N. (2015). International student’s challenge and adjustment to college. Education Research International, 1–9. http://doi.org/10.1155/2015/202.
62.Zargham Hajebi, M; Naeimian, N; Arsanjani, M. (2015). A study on role of personality traits and stress coping styles in mental wellbeing of students. Buletin Teknologi Tanaman, 12(2), 381-386.