The relationship between Eysenckian personality variables and achievement of freshman students in the Ball State University College of architecture and Planning

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between scores on the Extraversion and Neuroticism scales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the academic achievement and attrition of freshman students in the Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning for academic year 1974-75. The study also attempted to determine whether the addition of Extraversion and Neuroticism scores to the objective admission criteria presently used by the University would add significantly to the predictability of achievement and attrition.The sample used in this study consisted of 76 students beginning their freshman year in the College of Architecture and Planning in the Fall Quarter of 1974. The students were administered the Eysenck Personality Inventory on their first day on campus together. At the end of Spring Quarter, 1975, grade point averages were compiled. Twenty-one of the original 76 students in the sample had dropped out of the Architecture and Planning program.Multiple linear regression equations were used to ascertain the degree of correlation between Extraversion and academic achievement as well as to determine whether the addition of Extraversion to the objective criteria used by the University would significantly increase the accuracy of prediction of academic achievement and attrition of the sample. The relationship between Neuroticism and academic achievement was tested using a polynomial regression equation and the coefficient of curvilinear correlation. The relationship between Neuroticism and attrition was presented in a scattergram.The following conclusions regarding the relationship between the Eysenckian variables Extraversion and Neuroticism and the academic achievement and attrition of the sample were drawn from the research data:1. There was no significant correlation between Extraversion scores and the academic achievement of the sample in coursework within the College of Architecture and Planning.2. There was no significant correlation between Extraversion and the overall University academic achievement in the sample.3. There was no significant correlation between Extraversion and attrition of the sample.4. Extraversion did not add to the predictability of achievement or attrition which was obtainable from the criteria presently used by the University to screen applicants for admission to the College of Architecture and Planning.5. There was no significant correlation between prior college experience and attrition of the sample.6. There was no significant linear or curvilinear relationship between Neuroticism and the academic achievement or attrition of the sample. It was found to have no value at all as a predictor for the sample. In the literature reviewed, the majority of the research studies on the relationship between Neuroticism and academic achievement reported a curvilinear relationship between the two, with moderately high scores on the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory being considered optimal for high academic achievement. The results of the present study on not conform to these findings; no relationship was found between Neuroticism and the achievement and attrition of the sample.Thesis (D. Ed.