These two traits contribute to your success more than your IQ
A research review from 2014 found that two personal traits might predict your likeliness to find academic success four times more than your IQ.
The study was carried out by Dr Arthur Poropat and published in the journal Learning and Individual Differences noted that the two differences are your openness to experience and your conscientiousness. It showed that people who are open to new experiences are more imaginative, sensitive and intelectually curious, while conscientious people are more likely to be disciplined, dutiful and good at planning, according to the Independent.
Thousands of students were included in the research. Their assessments of their own personalities seemed to be as good as predicting their exam performance as intelligence tests. Yet when a close friend assessed the subject’s personality, they predicted their exam performance four times better than intelligence.
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“With respect to learning, personality is more useful than intelligence for guiding both students and teachers,” Poropat said. “In practical terms, the amount of effort students are prepared to put in, and where that effort is focused, is at least as important as whether the students are smart. And a student with the most helpful personality will score a full grade higher than an average student in this regard.”
Educational researchers and those who believe they did well in school because they are smart might be surprised by the impact of personality on the study, according to Poropat. “Personality does change, and some educators have trained aspects of students’ Conscientiousness and Openness, leading to greater learning capacity. By contrast, there is little evidence that intelligence can be ‘taught’, despite the popularity of brain-training apps,” he also said.
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