TY - JOUR
T1 - The Big Five Personality Dimensions and the Process of Institutional Departure
AU - Okun, Morris A.
AU - Finch, John F.
N1 - Funding Information:
The University where the present study was conducted is one of the fastest growing universities in the United States. It is the largest in the nation in terms of number of full-time undergraduate students. The undergraduate student body exceeds 35,000. The University has an exceptional undergraduate retention rate. According to the Carnegie classification system (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1987), the University is a Research I institution, ranking in the top 10 nationally in number of National Merit scholars, size of endowment, and research funding.
PY - 1998/7
Y1 - 1998/7
N2 - This study investigated the role of the "Big Five" personality dimensions in the dynamics of institutional departure in a convenience sample of 240 first-time, first-semester students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology at a large southwestern state university. Of the "Big Five" dimensions (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience), structural equation modeling revealed that conscientiousness exhibited the largest total effect on institutional departure (-.293). Conscientiousness exerted indirect effects (-.133) on institutional departure via organizational involvement, initial institutional commitment, and cumulative GPA as well as a direct effect (-.160) on institutional departure. Only 14 of the 240 students departed the institution within 1 year. A discriminant function analysis of institutional persistence versus departure, using cumulative GPA, institutional commitment, and conscientiousness as predictors, yielded a high false positive rate (67.6%) and a high sensitivity rate (78.6%).
AB - This study investigated the role of the "Big Five" personality dimensions in the dynamics of institutional departure in a convenience sample of 240 first-time, first-semester students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology at a large southwestern state university. Of the "Big Five" dimensions (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience), structural equation modeling revealed that conscientiousness exhibited the largest total effect on institutional departure (-.293). Conscientiousness exerted indirect effects (-.133) on institutional departure via organizational involvement, initial institutional commitment, and cumulative GPA as well as a direct effect (-.160) on institutional departure. Only 14 of the 240 students departed the institution within 1 year. A discriminant function analysis of institutional persistence versus departure, using cumulative GPA, institutional commitment, and conscientiousness as predictors, yielded a high false positive rate (67.6%) and a high sensitivity rate (78.6%).
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U2 - 10.1006/ceps.1996.0974
DO - 10.1006/ceps.1996.0974
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0039496432
SN - 0361-476X
VL - 23
SP - 233
EP - 256
JO - Contemporary Educational Psychology
JF - Contemporary Educational Psychology
IS - 3
ER -