Personality Traits and Grit as Predictors of Academic Achievement of Form Three Students in Public Secondary Schools in Murang’a County, Kenya
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Date
2022
Authors
Mugo, Stephen Mbuthia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
There has been poor performance in public secondary schools in Murang’a County. This study therefore, aimed to determine the relationships between students’ HEXACO personality traits, grit and academic achievement among form three students in Murang’a County. Also tested were differences in HEXACO personality traits and grit. HEXACO personality traits theory and grit theory guided this study. Correlational research design was used and only form threes participated. Purposive sampling helped to select Murang’a County while stratified random sampling enabled the researcher to arrive at 10 schools. Through proportionate stratified sampling, two boys’ boarding, two girls’ boarding schools, three co-educational boarding schools and three co-educational day schools were selected. Simple random sampling helped to get 379 respondents. HEXACO personality inventory revised and grit scales were used to measure HEXACO personality traits and grit respectively. Piloting was done on 30 students from a mixed day school. Academic achievement was provided by class teachers. HEXACO personality traits, grit and academic achievement data was analyzed by use of SPSS. The findings showed that HEXACO personality traits and academic achievement did not have a significant positive relationship. The results of one way ANOVA on the mean differences in academic achievement scores based on the six domains of HEXACO personality traits, showed a positive correlation. A significant positive correlation was found between grit and academic achievement. Concerning the prediction of academic achievement from HEXACO personality traits and grit, the results showed that both the variables significantly predicted academic achievement. The following recommendations are made from this study; educational experiences should help the students to improve their HEXACO personality traits and grit skills. Grit training may be incorporated in normal school learning for better results. Also, HEXACO personality traits can be taught to learners to enhance their leaning in school for better performance.
Description
A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of Masters Degree in Education (Guidance and Counselling) Kenyatta University,September, 2022
Keywords
Personality Traits and Grit, Predictors, Academic Achievement, Form Three Students, Public Secondary Schools, Murang’a County, Kenya