Is doing your homework associated with becoming more conscientious?

Richard Göllner; Rodica I. Damian; Norman Rose; Marion Spengler; Ulrich Trautwein; Benjamin Nagengast; Brent W. Roberts

doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2017.08.007

Is doing your homework associated with becoming more conscientious?

Richard Göllner, Rodica I. Damian, Norman Rose, Marion Spengler, Ulrich Trautwein, Benjamin Nagengast, Brent W. Roberts

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Research has shown that sustained homework effort enhances academic performance and that students’ conscientiousness is a powerful predictor of students’ homework effort. But does homework—as homework proponents claim—in turn also influence the development of conscientiousness over time? In the present study, we examined whether students’ homework effort in two subjects (i.e., mathematics and German) was associated with inter-individual differences in students’ development of conscientiousness in the early years of adolescence. Bivariate change models with a total of N = 2760 students revealed that homework effort and conscientiousness were systematically related over time (Grade 5 to Grade 8). Most importantly, students who invested more effort in their homework showed more positive development in conscientiousness.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Research in Personality
Volume	71
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.08.007
State	Published - Dec 2017

Keywords

Academic performance
Conscientiousness
Homework effort
Parent report
Personality development
Self-report

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Psychology(all)

Online availability

10.1016/j.jrp.2017.08.007

Library availability

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Cite this

@article{fc4ce9f7342d4dda8d980b0f38347da4,

title = "Is doing your homework associated with becoming more conscientious?",

abstract = "Research has shown that sustained homework effort enhances academic performance and that students{\textquoteright} conscientiousness is a powerful predictor of students{\textquoteright} homework effort. But does homework—as homework proponents claim—in turn also influence the development of conscientiousness over time? In the present study, we examined whether students{\textquoteright} homework effort in two subjects (i.e., mathematics and German) was associated with inter-individual differences in students{\textquoteright} development of conscientiousness in the early years of adolescence. Bivariate change models with a total of N = 2760 students revealed that homework effort and conscientiousness were systematically related over time (Grade 5 to Grade 8). Most importantly, students who invested more effort in their homework showed more positive development in conscientiousness.",

keywords = "Academic performance, Conscientiousness, Homework effort, Parent report, Personality development, Self-report",

author = "Richard G{\"o}llner and Damian, {Rodica I.} and Norman Rose and Marion Spengler and Ulrich Trautwein and Benjamin Nagengast and Roberts, {Brent W.}",

note = "Funding Information: The research reported here is based upon work supported by the Postdoc Academy of the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, funded by the Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, and the LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, which is funded within the framework of the Excellence Initiative by the German State and Federal Governments (GSC 1028). Involvement of Brent W. Roberts in the preparation of this paper was made possible by a grant from the Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, Germany. Richard G{\"o}llner is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the International PATHWAYS to Adulthood Programme. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2017",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.jrp.2017.08.007",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "71",

pages = "1--12",

journal = "Journal of Research in Personality",