The effect of personality traits on subject choice and performance in high school : Evidence from an English cohort

Mendolia, Silvia and Walker, Ian (2014) The effect of personality traits on subject choice and performance in high school : Evidence from an English cohort. Economics of Education Review, 43. pp. 47-65. ISSN 0272-7757

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between personality traits in adolescence and performance in high school using a large and recent cohort study. In particular, we investigate the impact of locus of control, self-esteem, and work ethics at age 15, on test scores at age 16, and on subject choices and subsequent performance at age 17–18. In particular, individuals with external locus of control or with low levels of self-esteem seem less likely to have good performance in test scores at age 16 and to pursue further studies at 17–18, especially in Mathematics or Science. We use matching methods to control for a rich set of adolescent and family characteristics and we find that personality traits do affect study choices and performance in test scores – particularly in Mathematics and Science. We explore the robustness of our results using the methodology proposed by Altonji, Elder, and Taber (2005) that consists of making hypotheses about the correlation between the unobservables that determine test scores and subjects’ choices and the unobservables that influence personality.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Economics of Education Review
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3304
Subjects:
?? personalityeducationlocus of controlself-esteemeducationeconomics and econometrics ??
ID Code:
127689
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
27 Sep 2018 15:26
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
16 Mar 2024 00:52