The aim of this study is to examine whether a preference for specific assessment methods in higher education is associated with personality and character strengths. Two-hundred and seventy Portuguese students completed a survey of character strengths, a Big Five personality test and their preference for each of six higher education assessment…

The present study set out to examine students' preferences for lecturers' personality as a function of their classroom behaviour, core self-evaluations and self-rated character strengths. Various hypotheses were tested: first, students' Big Five traits would significantly predict corresponding personality preferences for lecturers (the matching…

This study investigates the effect of familiar musical distractors on the cognitive performance of introverts and extraverts. Participants completed a verbal, numerical and logic test in three music conditions: vocal music, instrumental music and silence. It was predicted that introverts would perform worse with vocal music, better with…

This study examines the relationship between personality and two different academic performance (AP) assessment methods, namely exams and coursework. It aimed to examine whether the relationship between traits and AP was consistent across self-reported versus documented exam results, two different assessment techniques and across different…

The present study examined inter-ethnic, rural-urban, and sex differences in self-assessed intelligence (SAI) in a Malaysian general population sample. In total, 633 individuals varying in rural or urban location, ethnicity (Malay, Kadazan, and Bajau), and sex (women versus men) provided their self-assessed overall intelligence and ten multiple…

More than 400 students from four universities in America and Britain completed measures of learning style preference, general knowledge (as a proxy for intelligence), and preference for examination method. Learning style was consistently associated with preferences: surface learners preferred multiple choice and group work options, and viewed…

This study examined the accuracy of self- and other-estimated intelligence in relation to tested cognitive ability and gender. Three groups of raters were examined: 187 (102 male, 85 female; mean age 14.33 years, SD = 0.32) pupils of single-sex comprehensive schools, 109 (55 mothers and 54 fathers) parents, and six teachers of the pupils. Pupils…

Three UK studies on the relationship between a purpose-built instrument to assess the importance and development of 15 "soft skills" are reported. "Study 1" (N = 444) identified strong latent components underlying these soft skills, such that differences "between-skills" were over-shadowed by differences…

This study examined divergent thinking (DT) test scores of applicants taking part in a selection procedure for an undergraduate psychology degree (N = 370). Interviewers made six specific (creative intelligence, motivation, work habits, emotional stability, sociability, and social responsibility) and one overall recommendation rating on each…

Jackson developed a hybrid model of learning in personality, known as the Learning Styles Profiler (LSP), which seeks to explain personality in terms of biological, socio-cognitive and experiential processes. The hybrid model argues that functional learning outcomes can be understood in terms of how cognitions and experiences re-express sensation…

Students (n = 328) from US and UK universities completed four self-report measures related to intellectual competence: typical intellectual engagement (TIE), openness to experience, self-assessed intelligence (SAI), and learning approaches. Confirmatory data reduction was used to examine the structure of TIE and supported five major factors:…

This paper reports the results of a two-year longitudinal study of the relationship between self-assessed intelligence (SAI) and academic performance (AP) in a sample of 184 British undergraduate students. Results showed significant correlations between SAI (both before and after taking an IQ test) and academic exam marks obtained two years later,…

This study attempted a hierarchical integration of several dispositional determinants of test anxiety (TA) [Sarason, I.G. (1984). "Stress, anxiety and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests." "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," 46, 929-938.], namely the Big Five personality traits [Costa, P.T. Jr., & McCrae,…

Examined the similarity between subjects' (N=63) ratings of themselves and others, on various tests of personality. Results revealed that subjects correctly estimated several of their own scores, but only two scores of another person. They believed themselves to be similar to their friend, thereby showing attributional errors. (JAC)

This study investigated the relationship among sex, attitude toward intelligence, and self-estimation of multiple intelligences for self and parents among Portuguese adolescents in secondary schools. Two hundred and forty-two adolescents estimated their own and their parents' IQ scores on each of Gardner's 10 multiple intelligences: verbal…