Developing a Structural Model of the Relationship between Personality and Academic Competence Mediated by Academic Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to develop a structural model of the relationship between personality and academic competence mediated by academic self-efficacy. The research method was descriptive-correlational and the purpose of the research was applied. It is practical in terms of purpose. The statistical population of this study included all female high school students in the academic year 2020-2021 in Tehran, of which 610 students were selected by multistage random sampling. The instruments used in the present study included the NEO Five-Factor Inventory by Costa & McCrae (NEO-FFI), Academic Competence Evaluation Scale (ACES), and Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (PASE). The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using version 24 of AMOS software. The results showed that the structural model had acceptable agreement with the collected data. In this study, the indirect path coefficients between conscientiousness and extraversion and academic competence were positive and significant at the 0.01 level, and the indirect path coefficient between neuroticism and academic competence was negative and significant at the 0.01 level. Academic self-efficacy seems to be one of the expressions of personality traits that influence students’ perception of competence. Based on the results of this study, school counselors, therapists, and child and adolescent therapists are recommended to measure and assess students’ level of academic self-efficacy in order to identify and consider its manifestations on students’ academic competence.