Perceived Impact of Personality Traits on the Academic Performance of Students in Biology

Abstract

The study examined the perceived impact of personality traits on the academic performance of biology students in Makurdi, a local government area of Benue State, Nigeria. Three research questions were raised and two hypotheses were also formulated and tested. The research design adopted for this study was a descriptive survey design. The study sample comprises 384 students who were randomly selected from the total population of 9,748 students of the 20 government secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The instruments used for data collection in this study were the Five-Factor Inventory Questionnaire (FFIQ) for personality traits and “The Biology Performance Test (BPT)” for academic performance. The data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while ANOVA statistics and t-tests were used to test the hypotheses at a .05 significance level. The findings revealed that there was no significant mean difference in the five personality traits of students and the personality traits of Biology students had no significant relationship with their performance in the subject. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean performance of students in each of the five personality traits based on gender. The findings further revealed no significant difference in students’ personality traits according to gender and no significant difference in the performance of students who were offered biology according to gender. This study recommends that Special attention be paid to improving the performance of students in Biology in Makurdi to strike an association between the traits. Also, male and female students should be given equal opportunities in biology since there is no gender difference in their personality traits and academic performance.