An Examination of Personality Traits as a Predictor of the Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

Each learner brings a unique mix of personality traits, preferences, and talents to the educational setting. These factors can influence the extent to which learners are able to effectively deploy skills and strategies to achieve their academic goals. Gaining a deeper awareness of how specific personality traits play a role in the choice and deployment of SRL strategies provides opportunities to anticipate which learners might be ineffective self-regulators. Doing so would enable instructional designers, educators, or higher education administrators to better plan and deliver effective educational experiences for a wide range of learners. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the use of SRL strategies was impacted by learner differences in Big Five personality traits. This mixed methods study examined the potential of utilizing the Big Five Inventory classification as a predictor of self-regulated strategy use. Specifically, the study investigated the relationship between the existence of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism traits as possible predictors of learner use of SRL strategies. From a pool of approximately 4,200 graduate students, nearly 360 surveys were completed. Survey participants were asked to respond to five demographic items, 44 Big Five Inventory items, and 24 OSLQ items. The study indicated that personality trait classification does have an impact on the overall use of SRL strategies, as well as on the deployment of specific subscales within the OSLQ. Conscientiousness was the strongest predictor of overall OSLQ score, and agreeableness was shown as a significant predictor of each of the six OSLQ subscales. Contrary to the researcher’s initial hypothesis, exhibiting high neuroticism was not shown to have a significant negative impact on overall OSLQ scores. Results also indicated slight differences in overall OSLQ score based on personality trait and number of online courses taken. Finally, comments received during follow-up interviews lent support to statistical findings related to SRL strategy use across personality trait categories