Aim Personality traits and cognitive ability are well‐established predictors of academic performance. Yet, how consistent and generalizable are the associations between personality, cognitive ability, and performance? Building on theoretical arguments that trait–performance relations should vary depending on the demands and opportunities for trait expression in the learning environment, we investigated whether the associations of personality (Big Five) and cognitive ability (fluid intelligence) with academic performance (grades and tests scores) vary across school subjects (German and math) and across ability‐grouped school tracks (academic, intermediate, and vocational). Method Multiple group structural equation models in a large representative sample of ninth‐grade students (N = 12,915) from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Results Differential associations across school subjects emerged for cognitive ability, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness (math > German); and for Openness and Extraversion (German > math). Differential associations across school tracks emerged for cognitive ability, Conscientiousness (academic > intermediate > vocational) and Agreeableness (academic > intermediate > vocational). Personality traits explained more variation in academic performance in the academic than in the other tracks. Conclusion Most trait–performance relations varied across subjects, tracks, or both. These findings highlight the need for more nuanced and context‐minded perspective on trait–performance relations.

The present study investigates school context effects on psychosocial characteristics (academic selfconcept, peer relations, school satisfaction, and school anxiety) of high-achieving and gifted students. Students who did or did not make an early transition from elementary to secondary schools for high-achieving and gifted students in 5th grade in Berlin, Germany, are compared in their psychosocial development. The sample comprises 155 early-entry students who moved to an academically selective secondary school (Gymnasium) and 3,169 regular students who remained in elementary school until the end of 6th grade. Overall, a complex pattern of psychosocial development emerged for all students, with both positive and negative outcomes being observed. Specifically, the transition into academically selective leaming environments seemed to come at some cost for psychosocial development. Propensity score matching analysis isolating the effects of selective school intake and the school context effect itself revealed negative contextual effects of early transition to Gymnasium on academic self-concept and school anxiety; additionally, the positive trend in peer relations observed among regular students was not discernible among early-entry students.

The results therefore broaden the evidence on benefits of optimism by linking optimism to academic success in early adolescents but indicate only small and nonlinear associations.

Objective This study examined associations between the five‐factor personality traits and indicators of academic achievement (grades and test scores). A particular aim was to investigate whether personality‐achievement associations differ between primary and secondary educational contexts and whether these differences vary between differential learning environments, that is academic versus nonacademic secondary schools. Method We used two representative random samples from Germany: N = 3,658 6th graders in their last year of primary school and N = 2,129 9th graders attending different secondary school tracks (n = 566 academic track students; n = 1,563 nonacademic track students). Results First, our results confirmed positive associations between Conscientiousness, Openness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness and academic achievement as well as negative associations between academic achievement and Neuroticism. Second, associations with Conscientiousness were more pronounced for school grades than for test scores. Third, associations were higher for 6th than for 9th graders in the overall sample for all personality traits with the exception of Openness. Fourth, personality‐achievement associations differed between academic and nonacademic track students. Conclusion In sum, our results suggest the need for an educational stage‐specific perspective and contextually sensitive approach when examining personality‐achievement associations.