Personality factors in college dropout

Abstract

An entire freshman class (N = 2149) at the University of Iowa was administered a personality and an intellectual ability test prior to their 1st academic year. 13 months later groups of 1st-year dropouts (DO) and nondropouts (NDO) were defined. Based upon a value-conformity hypothesis, it was predicted that DOs would be more assertive and less task-oriented. Intellectual ability was controlled as a factor in dropout by matching each DO with an NDO S having an identical ability score. Personality differences were studied at 3 ability levels and for the sexes separately. The results supported the hypothesis for both sexes but only at the high-ability level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)