The Impact of Personality Characteristics on Online Academic Experience and Performance

The literature has demonstrated clear relationships between personality traits, locus of control, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement. However, past research has seldom investigated personality characteristics and subjective measures of academic success. The current study investigated how personality impacted the academic experience and grades of university students using an online self-report questionnaire. All measures of personality traits, academic self-efficacy, and locus of control were correlated with measures of a successful online academic experience. Academic self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of life satisfaction, effort regulation, and course value/enjoyment, while locus of control was the single predictor of perceived control over learning. Openness, academic self-efficacy, and locus of control were correlated with students’ final grades, and academic self-efficacy was the only significant predictor. These findings are generally consistent with prior research and suggest that individual differences significantly impact online grades and educational experiences