Cleverness, contentiousness, creativity and curiosity. A meta-analytic investigation of predictors of academic performance

Abstract

Intelligence and conscientiousness have long been recognised as key predictors of academic performance, but only account for about half of the variance in academic performance (von Stumm et al., 2011). Another factor that has shown promise as a potential predictor of academic performance is intellectual curiosity: the desire to acquire new knowledge (Berlyne, 1954). However, this relationship has arguably not been well established. One measure of intellectual curiosity that remains relatively unexplored is Need for Cognition (NFC), which measures the desire to engage in effortful cognitive activity (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). NFC has been measured together with academic performance with varied findings. The present meta-analysis explores relationships between NFC, academic performance and other predictors of academic performance: namely, intelligence, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. A correlation matrix is derived from 63 studies measuring NFC and one or more of the relevant predictor variables. Structural equation modelling has explored the magnitude and significance of associations between the variables of interest. While moderately correlated with academic performance, NFC is not a significant predictor. This finding suggests that intellectual curiosity may not be such a significant predictor of academic performance as previous research has suggested.