The predictive role of personality traits on academic performance of medical students: The mediating role of self-efficacy.

Background: Determining the variables influencing students' academic performance is one of the main preoccupations in medical colleges. Therefore, this study examined the effect of the Big Five personality traits on medical students' academic performance, considering the mediating role of self-efficacy. Methods: We applied a cross sectional research design using a PLS-SEM approach. A total of 249 medical students participated in this study. Two valid and reliable questionnaires, including Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) and New General Self Efficacy (GSE) were used. Data were analyzed using both SPSS 18 and PLS2 software. Results: The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The results revealed that openness (ß= 0.16, p<0.001), conscientiousness (ß=0.22, p<0.001), agreeableness (ß=0.19, p<0.001), and self-efficacy (ß=0.24, p<0.001) had a significant positive and direct effect on academic performance. Neuroticism (ß=-0.21, p<0.001) had a significant negative and direct effect on academic performance. Also, openness (ß=0.47, p<0.001) and conscientiousness (ß=0.33, p<0.001) had a direct positive effect on self-efficacy. Neuroticism (ß=-0.15, p<0.001) had a direct negative effect on self-efficacy. Moreover, the results showed an indirect positive effect of conscientiousness (ß=0.08, p<0.001) and openness (ß=0.11, p<0.001) on academic performance through self-efficacy. In addition, the results showed that neuroticism (ß=-0.03, p<0.001) had an indirect negative effect on academic performance through self-efficacy. Conclusion: This study discovered the relationships between personality traits, self-efficacy, and academic performance of medical students. The results showed that individual differences in personality traits directly and indirectly play an essential role, through self-efficacy, in contributing to the students' academic performance.

Medical students' academic emotions: the role of perceived learning environment.

INTRODUCTION: Research shows that there is a relationship between students' perceptions of classroom and learning environment and their cognitive, affective, emotional and behavioral outcomes, so, in this study the relationship between medical students' perception of learning environment and academic emotions was examined. METHOD: The research method used was descriptive-correlative. The statistical population consisted of medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Stratified sampling method was used to select 342 participants. They completed self-report questionnaires of Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) and Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). All descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations and simultaneous multiple regression were performed using SPSS 14 software. RESULTS: Simultaneous multiple regression of the students' perceived learning environment on their academic achievement emotions showed that the perceived learning environment predicts the students' academic emotions.

Academic resilience in education: the role of achievement goal orientations.

INTRODUCTION: In the past 2 decades, research findings established achievement goal theory as a powerful framework for conceptualizing difference in the quality of student's engagement, persistence on task, and academic resilience. So the present study examined the relationship between achievement goal orientations and academic resilience. METHOD: Participants were 606 students (307 girls and 297 boys) selected from Shiraz high schools. They completed the Achievement Goals Questionnaire and Youth development Module Scale (RYDM). To analyze the data, the relationships between variables were examined, using Pearson product-moment correlations. Also simulanteous multiple regression was performed to investigate the prediction of academic resilience by achievement goal orientations. To examine the reliability and the validity of measures Cronbach alpha coefficient and factor analysis method were applied, respectively. RESULTS: Simultaneous multiple regression of achievement goal orientations on academic resilience showed that "mastery-approach" was a significant positive predictor of the "home care/high" and "peer care" subscales. Also, "performance-approach" was a significant, positive predictor of "home care/high", and "school/community meaningful" was predicted by "performance-avoidance" positively. CONCLUSION: According to the findings, it seems that achievement goal orientation has a critical role in students' academic achievement. Implications of the results are discussed in more details.