IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/col/000151/022166.html

The Role of Personality Traits and Socio- Emotional Skills in Academic Competencies: The Case of Higher Education in Colombia
[El rol de los rasgos de personalidad y las habilidades socioemocionales en las competencias académicas]

Author

Listed:
  • Darwin Cortés-Cortés

    (Universidad del Rosario)

  • Carmen Delgado

    (Universidad del Rosario)

  • Marianella Ortiz

    (Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación - ICFES)

  • Julieth Pico

    (Universidad del Rosario)

  • Germán Pulido

    (Universidad del Rosario)

  • Laura Rodríguez

    (Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación - ICFES)

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between personality traits, socio-emotional skills, and academic competencies in higher education. The main findings show that academic competencies in higher education are related to various socio-emotional skills and personality traits. According to the results, academic competencies in both professional and technical/technological careers are positively associated with conscientiousness, a personality trait that the literature has consistently linked to academic and professional performance. Regarding socio-emotional skills, growth mindset (the belief in the malleability of the brain) and internal locus of control (the belief that what happens to me largely depends on what I can do) are positively related to academic competencies, while an external locus of control (the belief that what happens to me largely depends on others) is negatively associated. Este trabajo explora la relación entre los rasgos de personalidad, las habilidades socioemocionales y las competencias académicas en la educación superior. Los principales hallazgos muestran que las competencias académicas en la educación superior están relacionadas con varias habilidades socioemocionales y rasgos de la personalidad. De acuerdo con los resultados, las competencias académicas tanto en carreras profesionales como técnicas y tecnológicas están asociadas positivamente con la meticulosidad, un rasgo de personalidad, que la literatura ha mostrado que está sistemáticamente asociado al desempeño académico y laboral. Con respecto a las habilidades socioemocionales, la creencia sobre la maleabilidad del cerebro y el locus interno (la creencia de que lo que me ocurre depende en buena parte de lo que yo puedo hacer) se relaciona positivamente con las competencias académicas, mientras que el locus externo (la creencia de lo que me ocurre depende en buena parte de los demás) está asociado negativamente.

Suggested Citation

  • Darwin Cortés-Cortés & Carmen Delgado & Marianella Ortiz & Julieth Pico & Germán Pulido & Laura Rodríguez, 2024. "The Role of Personality Traits and Socio- Emotional Skills in Academic Competencies: The Case of Higher Education in Colombia [El rol de los rasgos de personalidad y las habilidades socioemocionales en las competencias académicas]," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, vol. 27(1), pages 1-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000151:022166
    DOI: 10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/e
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/economia/article/view/15191
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/e?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ligia Alba Melo-Becerra & Jorge Enrique Ramos-Forero & Pedro Oswaldo Hern�ndez-Santamar�a, 2017. "La educación superior en Colombia: situación actual y análisis de eficiencia," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 78.
    2. Kautz, Tim & Heckman, James J. & Diris, Ron & ter Weel, Bas & Borghans, Lex, 2014. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Improving Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills to Promote Lifetime Success," IZA Discussion Papers 8696, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Almlund, Mathilde & Duckworth, Angela Lee & Heckman, James & Kautz, Tim, 2011. "Personality Psychology and Economics," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 1-181, Elsevier.
    4. Heckman, James J., 2011. "Integrating Personality Psychology into Economics," IZA Discussion Papers 5950, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Rachid Laaja & Karen Macours, 2021. "Measuring Skills in Developing Countries," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(4), pages 1254-1295.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Krishnakumar, Jaya & Nogales, Ricardo, 2020. "Education, skills and a good job: A multidimensional econometric analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Breitkopf, Laura & Chowdhury, Shyamal K. & Priyam, Shambhavi & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Do economic preferences of children predict behavior?," DICE Discussion Papers 342, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Engelhardt, Carina, 2017. "Unemployment and personality: Are conscientiousness and agreeableness related to employability?," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-621, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    4. Larbi Alaoui & Christian Fons-Rosen, 2016. "Know when to fold 'em: The grit factor," Economics Working Papers 1521, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Apr 2021.
    5. Hvidman, Charlotte & Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia & Nielsen, Søren Albeck & Rosholm, Michael, 2024. "An intensive, school-based learning camp targeting academic and non-cognitive skills evaluated in a randomized trial," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Wang, Chunchao & Wang, Yao & Xiao, Aiping & Zhang, Yaru & Zou, Hang, 2025. "Student development in teacher–student interaction: Evidence from a randomized experiment in online education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    7. Zou, Jian, 2024. "The peer effect of persistence on student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Attanasio, Orazio & Blundell, Richard & Conti, Gabriella & Mason, Giacomo, 2020. "Inequality in socio-emotional skills: A cross-cohort comparison," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Wu, Binglan & Feng, Shuaizhang & Zhang, Yijing & Han, Yujie, 2025. "Do children's time preferences predict future school outcomes?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, O.D. & Lopez-Agudo, L.A. & Henriques, C.O., 2021. "Are soft skills conditioned by conflicting factors? A multiobjective programming approach to explore the trade-offs," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 18-40.
    11. Botea, Ioana & Donald, Aletheia & Rouanet, Léa, 2021. "In it to win it? Self-esteem and income-earning among couples," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 488-506.
    12. Rouse, Kathryn & Hunziker, Brooke, 2020. "Child bodyweight and human capital: Test scores, teacher assessments and noncognitive skills," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Ollikainen, Jani-Petteri & Pekkarinen, Tuomas & Uusitalo, Roope & Virtanen, Hanna, 2024. "Effect of secondary education on cognitive and non-cognitive skills," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    14. Zhang, Zuoqi & Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel, 2025. "The selection effect of childhood abilities on educational decisions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    15. Hoeschler, Peter & Balestra, Simone & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2018. "The development of non-cognitive skills in adolescence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 40-45.
    16. Fairley, Kim & Sanfey, Alan G., 2020. "The role of demographics on adolescents’ preferences for risk, ambiguity, and prudence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 784-796.
    17. Ajayi, Kehinde & Das, Smita & Delavallade, Clara & Ketema, Tigist Assefa & Rouanet, Lea Marie, 2022. "Gender Differences in Socio-Emotional Skills and Economic Outcomes : New Evidence from 17 African Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10197, The World Bank.
    18. Das, Smita & Delavallade, Clara & Fashogbon, Ayodele Emmanuel & Papineni, Sreelakshmi, 2026. "Turning Inward and/or Outward : Which Socioemotional Skills Pay for Agribusiness Entrepreneurs in Nigeria ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11325, The World Bank.
    19. Marsh, Vic & Delavallade, Clara & Das, Smita & Rouanet, Lea Marie & Koroknay-Palicz, Tricia & McDaniel, Dawn, 2025. "Assessing Workplace Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills in Africa : The ESTEEM Framework," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11128, The World Bank.
    20. Seemanti Ghosh, 2020. "Development of locus of control: A comparison between adolescents from middle- and lower-socioeconomic class," Working Papers 2020_23, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000151:022166. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Facultad de Economía (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferosco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.