Resumen:
Within a socio-situational and socio-behavioural context, the relationships between the
Big Five personality traits and the academic confidence of university students and how they differed
by sex of the student was explored. Previous research has identified both conscientiousness and
academic confidence as being linked to university performance. In respect of sex, female students
have been found to score higher on all of the Big Five measures, whereas the relationship between
sex and academic confidence has been mixed. Using self-report measures of personality and
academic confidence from 1523 Spanish students, it was found that the female students were more
confident in their grades, studying and attendance components of academic confidence and had
higher scores for conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism personality measures. A
multiple regression analysis found that personality predicts academic confidence, with
conscientiousness being the trait that statistically loaded the most strongly. This research further
confirms the validity of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale and suggests that measures of
personality and, especially, academic confidence could be usefully used in student support
situations to help students acquire the strategies and skills that lead to successful university study.
It is suggested that further research in the area needs to include outcome or achievement measures
and measures of hypothetical constructs, such as personality and academic confidence, that go
beyond self-report measures.
