The HEXACO personality traits as predictors of Chinese undergraduates’ academic performance

To verify the association between personality traits and academic performance in a university setting, we collected the grade point average (GPA) and six personality characteristics (honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) of 349 students at a university in China. According to the results, there were positive associations between GPA and honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Additionally, honesty–humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience explained 30.72% of the variance in GPA. On the basis of the above findings, two conclusions can be made: First, undergraduates’ GPA is associated with these six personality traits; second, undergraduates’ honesty–humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience may help to explain the variance in their GPA.