Self-Control Outdoes Fluid Reasoning in Explaining Vocational and Academic Performance-But Does It?

Trait self-control, the ability to interrupt undesired behavioral tendencies and to refrain from acting on them, is one of the most important socio-emotional skills. There had been some evidence that it outperforms intelligence in predicting students' achievement measured as both school grades and standardized achievement tests. However, recent research has shown that the relationships between trait self-control and measures of achievement are more equivocal, emphasizing the importance of the respective outcome of the test to the individual. On the one hand, high-stakes school achievement measures such as GPA repeatedly showed strong relationships with trait self-control. On the other hand, findings on the relationships between trait self-control and performance in mostly low-stakes standardized achievement tests were more heterogeneous. The substantial positive relationship between intelligence and both achievement measures is uncontested. However, the incremental value of trait self-control beyond intelligence when investigating their relationships with achievement remains uncertain. To investigate the relationships of self-control with school achievement and two standardized achievement tests (school mathematics and physics) beyond fluid reasoning, we drew on a large heterogeneous sample of adults in vocational training (N = 3,146). Results show differential patterns of results for fluid reasoning and trait self-control and the achievement measures. Trait self-control and fluid reasoning showed similar relationships with school achievement, whereas only fluid reasoning was significantly associated with standardized achievement test scores. For both achievement measures, no significant interaction effects between trait self-control and fluid reasoning were found. The results highlight the utility of trait self-control for performance in high-stakes school assessment beyond fluid reasoning, but set limits to the overall value of trait self-control for achievement in standardized assessments-at least in low-stakes testing situations.

Integrating covariates into circumplex structures: an extension procedure for Browne's circular stochastic process model.

Circumplex structures are elements of various psychological domains. Most work focuses on assessing the circular ordering of circumplex indicators and their relationships with covariates. In this article, an extension procedure for Browne's circumplex model is presented. Our approach models the relationships among circumplex indicators and the relationships of covariates with a latent circumplex simultaneously without affecting the circumplex indicators' positions on the circumplex. The approach builds upon Browne's Fourier series parameterization of a correlation function, which is used to model the latent circumplex correlation structure. It extends the shape of the correlation function to the profile of each covariate's correlations with the circumplex. The model is specified in the framework of structural equation modeling, thereby making it possible to test various hypotheses. Procedures are presented for deriving interval estimates for the parameters that relate the covariates to the circumplex. The model is compared to other approaches for assessing the relationships of a circumplex with covariates. The results of the exemplary applications and a simulation study were in favor of the suggested model. The approach is furthermore illustrated with a real-data example, focusing on the relationships between the interpersonal circumplex and the rivalry and admiration aspects of narcissism.

Similarity of vocational interest profiles within families: A person-centered approach for examining associations between circumplex profiles.

OBJECTIVE: Our study addressed three questions concerning the similarity of vocational interests within families: (a) How similar are vocational interests of mothers and fathers? (b) How similar are vocational interests of parents and their children? (c) Is the inference about parent-child profile similarity affected by mother-father profile similarity? METHOD: Data from N=1,624 tenth graders and their parents were used to analyze interest profile similarity by means of a pseudo-coupling approach. Similarity was assessed on the level of observed profiles and model-based circumplex profiles. RESULTS: Interest profiles of mother-father and parent-child dyads were more similar to each other than those of corresponding arbitrarily paired dyads. However, when the similarity between the parents' interest profiles was accounted for, only same-sex parent-child dyads were more similar to each other than would be expected by chance. All findings were mirrored on the level of observed profiles and model-based circumplex profiles. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, our findings support the validity of the circumplex model of vocational interests and emphasize the benefits of explicitly considering its implications when analyzing profile similarity. Moreover, we were able to show that the statistical evaluation of profile similarities must account for normative profile components.