The Personality of a “Good Test Taker”: Self-Control and Mindfulness Predict Good Time-Management When Taking Exams.

Much prior research has linked trait self-control and trait mindfulness with improved performance on overall academic metrics such as GPA. The present research expands on this literature by linking self-control, mindfulness, and closely related personality constructs to differences in the way students manage their time while taking exams. Students at two large public universities total n = 362 completed scale measures of self-control, mindfulness, and their use of time when taking timed examinations. The results suggest that trait self-control r = .174 and trait mindfulness r = .311 are statistically significant predictors of effective time management while taking timed exams.

___

  • Alster, E. H. (1997). The effects of extended time on algebra test scores for college students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(2), 222-227.
  • Bakosh, L. S. (2013). Investigating the effects of a daily audio-guided mindfulness intervention for elementary school students and teachers(Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology).
  • Baumeister, R. F., & Heatherton, T. F. (1996). Self-regulation failure: An overview. Psychological Inquiry, 7, 1– 15.
  • Brausch, B. D. (2011). The role of mindfulness in academic stress, self-efficacy, and achievement in college students. (Masters Thesis, Eastern Illinois, University).
  • Cassady, J. C., & Johnson, R. E. (2002). Cognitive test anxiety and academic performance. Contemporary educational psychology, 27(2), 270-295. doi: 10.1006/ceps.2001.1094
  • Davis, K. M., Lau, M. A., & Cairns, D. R. (2009). Development and preliminary validation of a trait version of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23(3), 185-197. doi:10.1891/0889- 8391.23.3.185
  • de Ridder, D. T., Lensvelt-Mulders, G., Finkenauer, C., Stok, F. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2012). Taking stock of self-control: A meta-analysis of how trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(1), 76-99. doi: 10.1177/1088868311418749.
  • Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., & Tsukayama, E. (2012). What No Child Left Behind leaves behind: The roles of IQ and self-control in predicting standardized achievement test scores and report card grades. Journal of educational psychology, 104(2), 439-451. doi: 10.1037/a0026280
  • Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological science, 16(12), 939-944. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01641.x
  • Franco, C., Mañas, I., Cangas, A. J., & Gallego, J. (2010). The applications of mindfulness with students of secondary school: Results on the academic performance, self-concept and anxiety. Knowledge management, information systems, e-learning, and sustainability research, 83-97.
  • Good, C., Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents' standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24(6), 645-662. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2003.09.002
  • Gough, H. G. (1987). California Psychological Inventory- Administrator’s Guide. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
  • Hogan, R., & Weiss, D. S. (1974). Personality correlates of superior academic achievement. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 21(2), 144-149.
  • John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. (1990). ‘The ‘‘Big Five. Factor Taxonomy: Dimensions of Personality in the Natural Language and in Questionnaires.’’In Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, ed. Lawrence A. Pervin and Oliver P. John, 66-100.
  • Lau, M. A., Bishop, S. R., Segal, Z. V., Buis, T., Anderson, N. D., Carlson, L., & Devins, G. et al. (2006). The Toronto mindfulness scale: Development and validation. Journal of clinical psychology, 62(12), 1445- 1467. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20326
  • Meiklejohn, J., Phillips, C., Freedman, M. L., Griffin, M. L., Biegel, G., Roach, A., ... & Isberg, R. (2012). Integrating mindfulness training into K-12 education: Fostering the resilience of teachers and students. Mindfulness, 3(4), 291-307. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0094-5
  • Mischel, W., & Ebbesen, E. B. (1970). Attention in delay of gratification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), 329-337.
  • Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Peake, P. K. (1988). The nature of adolescent competencies predicted by preschool delay of gratification. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(4), 687-696.
  • Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. I. (1989). Delay of gratification in children. Science, 244(4907), 933-938.
  • Napora, L. (2013). The impact of classroom-based meditation practice on cognitive engagement, mindfulness and academic performance of undergraduate college students. State University of New York at Buffalo.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Seaman, M. A. (1995). The effect of time constraints and statistics test anxiety on test performance in a statistics course. The Journal of experimental education, 63(2), 115-124.
  • Osgood, J. M., Muraven, M. (in press). Self-Control and alcohol consumption. To appear in Fujita, K, de Ridder, D., & Adriaanse, M (Eds). Handbook of Self-Control in Health and Wellbeing. London: Routledge.
  • Osgood, J. M. (2015). Acute cardiovascular exercise counteracts the effect of ego-depletion on attention: How ego-depletion increases boredom and compromises directed attention. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 7(3), 85-96.
  • Osgood, J.M., Salamone, A. (2017). Can trait self-control improve with training? A review of the evidence and possible underlying mechanisms. Advances in Psychology Research, 116, 1-30.
  • Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. www.viacharacter.org
  • Shoda, Y., Mischel, W., & Peake, P. K. (1990). Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions. Developmental psychology, 26(6), 978-986.
  • Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self‐control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of personality, 72(2), 271-324.
  • Wolfe, R. N., & Johnson, S. D. (1995). Personality as a predictor of college performance. Educational and psychological measurement, 55(2), 177-185.
  • Zenner, C., Herrnleben-Kurz, S., & Walach, H. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions in schools—a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 603. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00603