Characteristcs leading to academic success

Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Genetics play role in character traits related to academic success, study says
University of Texas at Austin

Character traits, such as grit or desire to learn, have a heavy hand in academic success and are partially rooted in genetics, according to a psychology study at The University of Texas at Austin.

Though academic achievement is dependent on cognitive abilities, such as logic and reasoning, researchers believe certain personality and character traits can motivate and drive learning.

In a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, UT Austin psychology associate professor Elliot Tucker-Drob found that genetic differences among people account for about half of the differences in their character, and that the remaining variation in character was influenced by environmental factors occurring outside of the home and school environments.

[I really doubt that home and school environments have to influence.]

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By comparing siblings, researchers learned that outside of what could be genetically explained, variance in a child's character could be attributed to unshared environmental effects, ruling out experiences shared by siblings such as parenting and attending the same school.

[Siblings do not have the same experiences at home & school.]

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In the study, genetics accounted for 69 percent of a person's general character, with 31 percent of variance accounted for by environmental influences. Furthermore, each character measure was heavily correlated with openness and conscientiousness, which were 48 and 57 percent heritable respectively.

Character measures promoting intellectual curiosity, such as intellectual self-concept, were linked more heavily to openness, which showed sizable associations with academic achievement; those representing work ethic, such as grit, associated more with conscientiousness, which was modestly correlated with academic achievement.

"This may indicate that aspects of character that are associated with interest and desire to learn may be stronger drivers of academic achievement than aspects of character associated with diligence and hard work," said Tucker-Drob, noting that one way genes influence academic achievement is by influencing aspects of character that are relevant for learning.

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