INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS ON ACADEMIC MOTIVATION IN A SMALL SAMPLE

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the impact of
personality traits on academic motivation measured by the
MUSIC inventory. Personality traits are known as important
factors that are related to the motivation and specifically, to
academic motivation. This is a topic of interest because due to
the interest of many people in studying and the pressure for
obtaining better academic results, also it is considered that
understanding the relationship these two, personality and
motivation, could play an important role in improving teaching.
The hypothesis was that students' personality traits, measured
using The Leonhard-Shmishek questionnaire, have an impact on
academic motivation, measured by the MUSIC inventory. The
sample of this study consisted of a voluntary group of 28 students
who studied the Psychology of education in the first year of the
psycho-pedagogical module, from several specializations. The
study had a cross-sectional design. The search of results for this
study was accomplished through correlation and regression
analysis. Interpretation of results from this study suggested that
the hypothesis of this study was only partially confirmed, out of
10 personality traits measured by the Leonhard-Shmishek
questionnaire in this small sample only three of them (dysthymic,
hyperthymic and anxious) have been found to have a linear or
nonlinear impact on some of academic motivation the scales
(empowerment, interest, success and caring) measured by
MUSIC questionnaire. Results obtained suggests that when are
considered the effects of personality traits on academic
motivation could prove worthful to consider different types of
impacts not only the ”linear” one.