“Cognitive Ability and Conscientiousness Are More Important Than SES for Educational Attainment: An Analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study”, Michael O’Connell, Gary N. Marks2022-04-01 (IQ & SES, Conscientiousness; similar)⁠:

• Antecedents of educational attainment of great interest

• Dominant paradigm focuses on SES of children.

• Cognitive ability and conscientiousness have stronger record in research findings.

• Using new UK MCS longitudinal survey data, GCSE state exam performance assessed

• Cognitive ability and Conscientiousness explained far more than SES measures

The influences on children’s success in education remain a profoundly important topic of enquiry. The dominant view is that socioeconomic background (SES) is critical.

This study examines the influences on student performance in the General Certificate of School Education (GSCE) taken at age 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland analysing data from the Millennium Cohort Study. The GSCE results of 8,303 students were converted to a numerical score.

2 psychological factors—cognitive ability and their level of Conscientiousness—could explain almost as much of the variation in exam attainment as all measures, and far more than a model of socio-economic factors.

The power of psychological traits in influencing key educational outcomes is underestimated.

[Keywords: SES Individual traits, intelligence, Conscientiousness, educational attainment]

See Also:

• “Inadequacies in the SES-Achievement model: Evidence from PISA and other studies”

• “Predicting educational achievement from genomic measures and socioeconomic status”

• “Are the effects of intelligence on student achievement and well-being largely functions of family income and social class? Evidence from a longitudinal study of Irish adolescents”

• “Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big Five correlates of GPA and SAT scores”

• “Personality, IQ, and lifetime earnings”

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