Effects of Personality Traits on Students’ Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Effects of Personality Traits on Students’ Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Ebere Sampson Wagbara, DR. Uchechi Ngozi Wosu, OMEKE, Kasitem Sheila

Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Foundations, Rivers State University.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.701020

Received: 27 August 2023; Revised: 19 September 2023; Accepted: 22 September 2023; Published: 26 October 2023

ABSTRACT

This study examined effects of personality traits on students’ academic performance in Business Studies in Public junior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study, the study employed quasi-experimental design. Specifically, the study adopted pretest-posttest non- randomized control group design. The target population of the study was 1,500 students of business studies in all Junior Secondary School II (JSS 2) in public secondary schools in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers state. Purposive sampling technique was used to select six (6) public secondary schools. Simple random sampling techniques was used to select 20 JSS 2 students in each of the selected schools, making it a total number of one hundred and twenty (120) students in public secondary schools in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers state. A self-structured questionnaire titled:  Students   Personality Trait Questionnaire (SPTQ) and Student Business Achiement Test (SBAT) were used for data collection. The instrument were validated by two expert’s judgment in measurement and evaluation in the department of educational foundations in Rivers State University. The reliability of the instruments was established using test- retest and a reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 10 students who scored within 0 – 59 (introverts) and 10 students’ who scored 60 and above (extroverts), while t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study in research question one revealed that Business Education Students given pretest did not perform better as of when posttest was administered to them, whereas research question two shows that  Business Education students given posttest perform better as of when posttest was administered to them.   Based on the findings it was recommended that business subject teachers should as a matter of importance not rely on pretest scores in judging students with extroversion traits because the students’ were not taught before administering the test to them.

Key words: Personality trait, Business Studies, Extroversion, Introversion.    

INTRODUCTION

People have always used their business skills and knowledge, informally acquired in prototype business situations and transactions. They have always engaged themselves in production, exchange, storage and transportation. People used business education knowledge, informally, in the olden days for local production, buying and selling and distribution of goods and services. According to Maude (2012) business studies is as old as man and society. He went further to say that people used informal ways of business communication and arithmetic in carrying out business activities. Aliyu (2001) asserted that business education has been in existence since the creation of man, even if in an informal sense. Amaewhule (2000) reported that business studies is a generic term covering all business subjects. These are office practice, shorthand, book-keeping and commerce at the Junior Secondary School level. He further defined Business Studies as a subject which deals with the various methods of organizing and conducting business activities with the aim of maximizing or making profit.   He went ahead to say that there is a need for people to obtain a type of education that will equip them to explore the available opportunities in the society. Amaewhule stated that it is the duty of the school system to provide people with relevant educational information and experiences that will help them meet these opportunities in their career and occupational plans. According to Fafunwa (1991), the purpose of education is functionalism. One of the aims of secondary school leavers should be to make a useful living for themselves (NPE 2002). According to Ekanem (2008), Business Studies has a significant effect on the quality of life of the people, and their environment.

Aliyu (2001) observed that business education programme is becoming more relevant to the socio-economic and political live of citizens as people feel the impact of business education in their daily activities that require the rudimentary knowledge of entrepreneurship. Skill acquisition programmes like business education which provide vocational and business competence will no doubt, help in the development of careers, vocations, occupations and competence that make an educational system functional. These are programmes that facilitate wealth creation and employment opportunities in any nation. In addition, Odunlami (2001) stated that the present dwindling economic situation, in spite of the Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) and the proposed National Youths Empowerment Scheme, and the massive unemployment, justifies the need for the business education programme.  Eddy (2002) opined that efforts to improve a dwindling national economy can be made fruitful by encouraging jobless people to embrace skill development programmes like the Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) and become productive. In this way, the objectives of business studies as a programme for acquiring skills in office careers and general education on information and competence needed for managing business will be realized. Students studying business studies must develop positive attitudes towards the subject if the acquisition of skills is to be justified. A positive attitude towards business studies will make a student to have a positive commitment to business studies and improve performance in the subject.

Attitude is the feeling, emotions, and behaviour one has towards something or someone. Adesina and Akinbobola (2005), described attitude as a state of readiness, a tendency on the part of individuals to act in a certain way. According to Nurlazam, Rohandi, and Jusoh (2010), negative attitude towards a given subject leads to lack of interest and avoidance.  Buwa-Sado (2002) observed that female students have more positive attitude to language studies than the (few) males in the school of languages. A study conducted by Kariuki, Patrick, Wilson and Lisa (2003) and cited in Oyelekan (2014), indicated a significant difference in attitude, only in the fifth grade group. Akinbobola and Afolabi (2009) in their study reported an insignificant gender difference in the attitude of students towards physics when taught with cooperative; competitive and individualistic learning strategies. Individualistic learning can be enhanced when some personality traits are developed and shaped positively in the learner.

Personality is the sum total of the characteristics that differentiates individuals. Traits are enduring dimensions of personality characteristics which differentiate people from one another. Student’s personality traits are different from each other. They receive and process information differently and also differ in their understanding. Personality traits affect academic achievement in students either positively or negatively. Many researchers have argued that personality traits account for a significant variation in academic performance of students (Chamorror-Premuzic and Furnham, 2003).  Komarraju and Karau, (2005). Marsh, Trautwein, Ludkle, Koller and Baumert (2006), and Martin, Montgomery and Saphian (2006) found that individual differences in personality played a unique role in undergraduate performance across four years of coursework over and above the effect of high-school performance and cognitive ability. However, there has been an increasing interest in the big five personality traits and the role they play in the academic achievement of students. The “Big Five” traits include conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience, extroversion and locus of control (CAOEL). In this study the researcher is only concerned with extroversion, introversion and agreeableness

Extroversion and introversion are central dimensions of human personality theories. The terms were popularized by Carl Jung (1995) although both the popular understanding and psychological usage differ from their original intent. Extroversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behaviour, whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved and solitary attitude (Thompson, 2008). Extroversion involves assertiveness, the desire to be social, loved and ambitious, talkative and aggressive (Barrick and Mount, 2001). Huang, Liu and Yang (2010) found that female’s personality traits would moderate entrepreneurial intention by attitude. Chih-Ching (2008) carried out a study on effects of personality traits and attitudes on students’ uptake in hospitality employment, and found personality trait of extroversion is a significant predictor of students’ attitude towards and aspirations regarding hospitality jobs. Forrester and Tashchian (2010) found that extraversion was the best predictor of respondents’ attitude towards academic group work. Individuals with high extroversion scores had positive attitude towards academic group work. Introverts focus mainly on inner thoughts while extroverts concentrate on people and external activities. The typical extrovert needs many friends, is very social, wants to talk with people, enjoys parties and does not prefer to study by himself. He demands excitement, takes risks and generally acts impulsively. He is dynamic, has ready answers to questions and likes changes in general. On the contrary, a typical introvert is introspective, reserved, enjoys books rather than meeting people and has friends but not in large numbers and does not act on the spur of the moment. He likes to plan well in advance and has no ready answers for instantaneous questions. He is generally very serious about matters of everyday life, tends to spend an ordered life and does not like excitement. Agreeableness is a measure of an individual tendencies with respect to social harmony. This trait reflects how well   students get along with other students especially in their study areas (business subject). Every individual possesses the qualities of both introversion, extraversion and agreeableness and shows them in their daily lives but one dominate the other. This can be practically observed by knowing the work preferences of individuals and how they react to stress. Reaction of individuals to stress may be influenced by gender differences, too. It is believed that the way males react to issues is quite different from that of females.  Hence, gender is an important variable in this study.

Gender differences have become essential issues in the whole world. Liu and Wang (2005) revealed that there was a significant effect of gender with female students having significantly higher perceived academic effort than their male counterparts.  In a related development, Fabunmi (2004) discovered that gender composition had a significant influence on secondary school students’ performance. Ismail and Othman (2006) carried out a study on the effect of students’ gender and past performance on academic achievement during their first year in the university. The results showed that female students had better results than their male counterparts and that gender played an important role, influencing success in the university. Kan and Akba (2006) studied students’ level of attitude and self-efficacy towards achievement in chemistry among male and female students and found that there were no significant differences in the mean of attitude scores according to gender. Ekanem (2008), in a study indicated that individual differences in patterns of interest play strong roles in their choices of which activities to pursue, both in and out of school. The differences in patterns of interest are crucial for understanding differences in cognitive performance (Wigfield, Battle, Keller and Eccles 2000).  Hausmann, Tyson, and Zahidi (2009) asserted that there is no country in the world that has yet reached equality between male and female in different critical areas such as economic participation or education. In most science related fields, there tends to be more males than females (Olagunju, 2001).  Shiaki (2005) in his study on attitude of students towards educational statistics found that the anxiety level of males was marginally lower than that of the female students in educational statistics. Males scored higher than the female students on the confidence of learning scale and thereby give credence to the evidence that males tend to be more confident than females.

Statement of the Problem

The decline in the performance of students in Business Studies at the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Rivers State is worrisome. This is because the subject is a collage of all business related courses such as Commerce, Book-Keeping, Shorthand, Typewriting and Office Practice which are crucial to the survival of any nation’s economy. Komarraju, & Karau, (2005) states that the proof on the cause of students’ low performance in Business Studies is scarce, attention must be redirected at finding possible proactive ways of improving how the subject is thought and learnt.  Such improvement may entail observing the personality traits of the learner’s vis-à-vis their gender.

The researcher observed that researchers have based their investigations mainly on teaching methods but it appears very few researchers have worked on the personality of the students and their attitude to Business studies as a school subject. Before such conclusion can be arrived at, there is a need for an informed database borne out of empirical studies, such as the present one, supporting their effectiveness in promoting learning outcomes.  It is in the light of the above that this study determined the effects of personality traits on Junior Secondary School Two (JSS 2) students’ attitude to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Research Objective

The following objectives guided the study.

1. Investigate the effect of extroversion enhance students’ Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria.
2. Establish the effect of introversion enhance students’ Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Research Question

The following research questions were raised to guide the study:

1. What is the effect of extroversion on student’s Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria?
2. What is the effect of introversion on student’s Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria?

Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the conduct of the study:

1. There is no significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on extroversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria.
2. There is no significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on introversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Edward and Kwabena (2016) conducted a research on the personality traits and academic performance using college and students in Accra Region of Ghana. The aim was to investigate whether there is any correlation between personality trait and academic performance. A sample of three hundred (300) participants aged 18 to 40 years completed the big five inventory. From the findings, positive association were found between academic performance of college students who were conscientiousness, agreeable and openness.

Moyosola (2013), conducted a study on personality characteristics using secondary school in Nigeria. Three hundred and eighty (380) students formed the sample. Their ages ranged between 10 to 19 years. The Big five inventory (BFI) was used. The findings revealed that Agreeableness and Consciousness correlated and predicted academic performance. The result also revealed that the least association with academic

performance.

Yaman (2016) investigated the big five personality traits and academic performance using two hundred and two (202) students in private university in Istanbul Turkey who were between 18-20 years. Conscientiousness was seen to have an association with GPA and positively relating with all the four learning styles. Moreover, openness to Experience and Agreeableness also showed positive relation to GPA which shows that students who are Conscientious, cooperative and cognitively inquisitive, acquires high academic achievement.

METHODOLOGY

The research design for the study is quasi-experimental design. Specifically, the study adopted the pretest-posttest non- randomized control group design. This study was carried out in Rivers State Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of all 1,500 students of all Junior Secondary School II (JSS 2) in public secondary schools in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers state (Rives    State Ministry of Education, 2023). A total of 120 jss2 students from public secondary schools was purposively selected as sample for the study because the data showed to the researcher from the Rivers State Ministry of Education revealed that students from Emohua Local Government had the least performance in Business Studies in Rivers State. The researcher visited schools to ascertain those schools that were more affected in Emohua Local Government to get data on student’s performance in each school. Based on the outcome, six (6) schools that had the least performance in business studies in the schools visited were purposively selected.  The research instrument is a sixteen-item multiple-choice type of students   Personality Trait Questionnaire (SPTQ), and Students Business Achievement Test (SBAT). The questions were set based on the trait of student’s extroversion and introversion. Then the content appropriateness was face and content validated by two expert’s judgment in measurement and evaluation in the department of educational foundations in Rivers State University. The expert judgement opinion and corrections were appropriately integrated before the final copies were produced and used. The reliability of the instruments was established using test- retest method. A pilot test was conducted on students in jss2 in The Biggies Foundation School (Private School). Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics was adopted in correlating the scores of the test. Reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained which was high to permit the use of the instrument for the study. Pretest-posttest on personality trait was administered to all the students in each class. After marking, students’ scores were separated and arranged in an ascending order for each class. A bench mark was set. For instance, students that scored between 0 – 59 were regarded as introverts while those that scored sixty and above were the extroverts. Thus, systematic sampling technique was used to select 10 students who scored within 0 – 59 (introverts) and 10 students’ who scored 60 and above (extroverts). This gave a total of 20 students selected from each of the six schools. Thus, 20 students were purposively selected from the six (6) schools making a total of 120 students. The classes selected were randomly distributed. Two research assistants assisted the researcher. In all, the study made use of six schools and 120 students.

DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

Research Question 1 What is the effect of extroversion on student’s Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria?

Table 1: Mean and standard deviation on effect of extroversion on student’s academic performance In Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria

Table 1 shows effect of extroversion on student’s academic performance In Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria. The findings revealed that the pretest mean, SD and posttest mean SD, when people shout at me, I shout at them back. (3.10 & 1.00) posttest (3.86 & 1.00), People think of me as being lively (3.02 & .70), posttest (3.67 & .76) I am mostly quiet when I  am with other people (2.36 & .50) posttest (4.36 & 67) I like work that I need to pay close attention to (3.00 & .62) posttest (4.00 & .60) I enjoy practical jokes that can sometimes really hurt (2.63 & .58) posttest (3.63 & .68) I like playing pranks on others (3.08. &.71) posttest (4.08 & .78) I worry about awful things that might happen (2.77 & .52) posttest (3.77 & .71) I don’t want my errors corrected (3.03 & .55) posttest (3.03 & .65) I usually let myself go and enjoy a lot of guy party (3.16 & .60) posttest (4.16 & .87)

Research Question 2. What is the effect of introversion on student’s Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria?

Table 2. Mean and standard deviation on the effect of introversion enhance students’ Academic Performance in Business Studies in Public Junior Secondary School in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Table 2 shows the effect of introversion on student’s academic performance in Business Studies in public junior secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.  The findings of the study presented the pretest and posttest I do not have a strong need to around other people (3.05 & .69) posttest (3.99 & 82.). I usually prefer to do things alone (2.99 & .61), I like to go to vacation in places where there are a lot of people  around and a lot of activities going on (3.92 & .58), posttest (4.32 & .82) I think it would be satisfying if I could have very close friendship with many people (3.02 & .65). I try to structure my day so that I always have something to myself (2.78 & .59) posttest (3.66

& .67) I like to share special occasion with just one person or a few close friends, rather than have big celebration (3.59 & .64) posttest (3.59 & .87) And after spending a few hours surrounding by a lot of people, I am usually eager to get away by myself (3.66 & .81) posttest (4.69 & .91)

Test of Hypotheses.

1: There is no significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on extroversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria

Table 4.3: Z-test analysis on the significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on extroversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria.

The analyzed data in table 3 showed that the z-.cal was -8,8 while the critical table value was 1.96 at 0.005 level of significant and 118 degree of freedom. Since the z-cal is greater than the z-crit, the null hypothesis there is no significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on extroversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria was rejected. The alternative hypothesis was therefore, accepted showing that there is a significant difference in the mean performance of business studies students’ scores on pretest and posttest on extroversion trait.

Table 4.4: Z-test analysis on the significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on introversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria.

The analyzed data in table 4 showed that the z-.cal was -3.94 while the critical table value was 1.96 at 0.005 level of significant and 118 degree of freedom. Since the z-cal is greater than the z-crit, the null hypothesis there is no significant difference in the mean performance of students’ scores of Pretest/posttest on extroversion trait to Business Studies in Rivers State, Nigeria was rejected. The alternative hypothesis was therefore, accepted signifying that there is a significant difference in the mean performance of business studies students’ scores on pretest and posttest on extroversion trait.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The findings of the study in research question one revealed that Business Education students given pretest did not perform better as of when posttest was administered to them, this was because the students’ were not taught before administering the test to them.  This was evident in 2.90 mean difference between students given pretest and posttest on extroversion trait. 2.90 as against 4.03 of posttest. The corresponding hypothesis on further agreed this finding as it exposed that there is a significant difference in the mean performance of business studies students’ scores on pretest and posttest on extroversion trait. This decision was based on the fact that the calculated z-value of -3.94 was greater than critical table of 1.96. This finding was supported by the findings of (McDougall, 2003) which indicated that pretest, as before given construct or before teaching has a significant difference on students meta-cognitive awareness, On the other hand , pretest has significant effectiveness on students’ performance.

The findings of the study in research question two presented that Business Education students given posttest performed better than when pretest was administered to them, this was because the students’ were taught before administering the test to them.  This was evident in 4.03 mean difference between students given pretest and posttest on introversion trait. 4.03, as against 2.90 of pretest. The corresponding hypothesis on further agreed this finding as it revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean performance of business studies students’ scores on pretest and posttest on extroversion trait. This decision was based on the fact that the calculated z-value of -8. 8 was greater than critical table of 1.96. This finding was supported by (Shiaki, 2005) whose study revealed that posttest, as after given construct or after teaching has a significant difference on students’ meta-cognitive awareness. It illustrated that students’ knowledge and intellectual ability had increase, indicating that posttest has significant effectiveness on students’ performance.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that posttest (after teaching) do not only encourage effective teaching but improve students’ academic performance in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.. The study also concluded that the adoption of posttest method is very necessary as to inspire students’ concentration in class activities, furthermore the study discourages teachers’ use of pretest (before teaching) score as a criteria in judging student academic performance.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations were made:

1. Business subject teachers should as a matter of importance not rely on pretest scores in judging students with extroversion traits because the students’ were not taught before administering the test to them.
2. School administrators and other stake holders should ensure that syllabus developers are periodically engaged in on-the-job training this can help them having an in-depth observation/knowledge of introvert students, also those charged with the responsibility of teaching should have timely interactions such as conferences and meetings with the students in order to have firsthand information concerning the students’ academic problems and share their experiences.

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