The Influence Of "Big Five" Personality On College Students' Academic Performance And Mental Health: The Mediating Role Of Achievement Goals

This study,based on the hierarchical model of achievement motivation,surveyed 463 students from two universities in Nanjing on their Big Five personality traits,achievement goals,general health,and academic achievement.The aim was to explore the independent influence of personality and achievement goals on students' general health and academic achievement,particularly,how achievement goals played the mediating function in the relation between the Big Five and the outcomes.The results showed that(1)Big Five personality traits had significant contributions to academic achievement and general health.Specifically,agreeableness and conscientiousness positively predicted academic achievement,and openness positively predicted the positive dimension of psychological health.(2)Different achievement goals significantly predicted students' academic achievement and psychological health.Specifically,mastery-approach goals significantly predicted academic achievements,and the positive side of psychological health,while performance-approach goals significantly predicted academic achievements.(3)With regard to the mediation,performance-approach goals functioned as a fully mediator in the relation between neuroticism and academic achievement.Performance-avoidance goals functioned as a fully mediator in the relation between neuroticism and students' psychological health.Mastery-approach and performance-approach goals played partial mediations in the relation between conscientiousness and students' academic achievement.At last,the dissertation discussed the research results,contributions and shortcomings.On this basis,suggestions were provided for the all-around positive development of university students.