Relations between the Big Five personality traits of prospective early childhood pedagogues and their beliefs about the education of preschool children: Evidence from a German study

Publication date: Available online 10 November 2014 Source:Learning and Individual Differences Author(s): Wilfried Smidt , Gisela Kammermeyer , Susanna Roux The study investigated relations between the Big Five personality traits and beliefs about the education of preschool children of prospective early childhood pedagogues by using Latent Profile Analysis. We used data from 1137 participants attending 111 professional schools of social pedagogy and 32 universities. Three latent profiles were found: (a) an ambitious profile with relatively high endorsements of educational beliefs, (b) a moderate profile with medium-level endorsements, and (c) a reserved profile with relatively low endorsements. The Big Five predicted profile membership after we controlled for other influences. Respondents with higher agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism were more likely to be members of the ambitious profile relative to the moderate profile; those with higher conscientiousness and openness were more likely to be classified as ambitious as opposed to reserved; and members with higher openness were more likely to belong to the moderate profile relative to the reserved profile. The results indicated a risk of overload for a substantial group of prospective childhood pedagogues characterized by comparatively high values on the neuroticism scale and an increased probability of membership in the ambitious profile. The findings are discussed with regard to their implica...
Source: Learning and Individual Differences - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research