Big five predictors of academic achievement

A large-sample study (N = 717) is described in which two broad Big Five fac tor measures were compared with two narrow personality trait measures in th e prediction of final grades in an undergraduate psychology course. The Big Five factors evaluated as predictors were Conscientiousness and Openness t o Experience (or Intellect). The traits evaluated, which were constituents of the respective factors, were need for Achievement and need for Understan ding. In each comparison, the lower level trait measure did better than its higher level factor measure in the prediction of course grades. We conclud e that the aggregation of narrow trait measures into broad factor measures can be counterproductive from the points of view of both behavior predictio n and behavior explanation. (C) 2001 Academic Press.