Emotional well-being of schoolchildren: the role of personality traits and academic achievement

Introduction. In light of the heightened demands placed on schoolchildren, the issue of preserving emotional well-being is particularly significant. Aim. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of personality traits, educational environment conditions, and academic achievement on the emotional well-being of schoolchildren. Methodology and research methods. The theoretical and methodological foundation of this study is grounded in the concept of social and emotional well-being (M. Hamilton, G. Redmond) and theoretical frameworks concerning the nature of academic achievement among students (V.N. Druzhinin, M.R. Shabalina). The study involved 975 students from schools in Ekaterinburg. The research employed methods of theoretical analysis, psychodiagnostic assessment, and mathematical and statistical data processing techniques. Results. The results indicated a relationship between indicators of emotional well-being, personality traits, and academic achievement among schoolchildren. Those with high emotional well-being tend to exhibit traits such as friendliness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and extroversion, often underestimating their actual academic performance. Conversely, schoolchildren with low emotional well-being are characterised by neuroticism and a lower subjective assessment of their academic results compared to their actual performance. Additionally, students from schools with high educational outcomes demonstrate greater emotional well-being and tend to have a slightly inflated perception of their academic achievements, in contrast to their peers from schools with lower educational outcomes. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this study lies in establishing the connection between emotional well-being, personality traits, and academic success, while also examining the phenomenon of emotional well-being from the perspective of identifying its high and low levels. Practical significance. The results obtained can be utilised to predict the emotional well-being of schoolchildren and their academic success. Additionally, these findings can inform the development of programs aimed at providing psychological and pedagogical support to foster and sustain the emotional well-being of schoolchildren.

1. Choi A. Emotional well-being of children and adolescents: recent trends and relevant factors. OECD Education Working Papers. 2018;169. doi:10.1787/41576fb2-en

2. González-Carrasco M., Sáez M., Casas F. Subjective well-being in early adolescence: observations from a five-year longitudinal study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(21):8249. doi:10.3390/ijerph17218249

3. Odintsova V.V. Emotional well-being as an integrative characteristic of the emotional sphere. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Seriya 12. Psihologiya. Sociologiya. Pedagogika = Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. Series 12. Psychology. Sociology. Pedagogy. 2014;1:69–77. (In Russ.) Accessed September 03, 2024. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/emotsionalnoe-blagopoluchie-kak-integrativnaya-harakteristika-emotsionalnoy-sfery

4. Kulikov L.V., Dontsov D.A. Psihologiya emocij i chuvstv = Psychology of Emotions and Feelings. Moscow: Limited Liability Company “Rusains”; 2021. 248 p. (In Russ.) Accessed August 29, 2024. https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=46612374

5. Schutte N.S., Malouff J.M., Simunek M., McKenley J., Hollander S. Characteristic emotional intelligence and emotional well-being. Cognition & Emotion. 2002;16(6):769–785. doi:10.1080/02699930143000482

6. Ferreira M.B., de Almeida F., Soro J.C., Herter M.M., Pinto D.C., Silva C.S. On the relation between over-indebtedness and well-being: an analysis of the mechanisms influencing health, sleep, life satisfaction, and emotional well-being. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021;12:1199. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.591875

7. Diener E., Tay L. Subjective well-being and human welfare around the world as reflected in the Callup World Poll. International Journal of Psychology. 2015;50(2):135–149. doi:10.1002/ijop.121136

8. Grigorova Y.B. Structure of emotional well-being. Azimut nauchnyh issledovanij: pedagogika i psihologiya = Azimuth of Scientific Research: Pedagogy and Psychology. 2019;8(1):331–334. (In Russ.) doi:10.26140/anip-2019-0801-0082

9. Feller S.C., et al. Emotional well-being and public health: proposal for a model national initiative. Public Health Reports. 2018;133(2):136–141. doi:10.1177/0033354918754540

10. Morelli M., Cattelino E., Baiocco R., Trumello C., Babore A., Candelori C., Chirumbolo A. Parents and children during the COVID-19 lockdown: the influence of parenting distress and parenting self-efficacy on children’s emotional well-being. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020;11:584–645. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584645

11. Gordeeva T.O., Sychev O.A. What determines the psychological well-being of Russian adolescents: analysis of PISA 2018 results. Sibirskiy psikhologicheskiy zhurnal = Siberian Journal of Psychology. 2023;88:85–104. (In Russ.) doi:10.17223/17267080/88/5

12. Anglim J. Horwood S., Smillie L.D., Marrero R.J., Wood J.K. Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 2020;146(4):279. doi:10.1037/bul0000226

13. Hayes N., Joseph S. Big 5 correlates of three measures of subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences. 2003;34(4):723–727. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00057-0

14. DeNeve K.M., Cooper H. The happy personality: a meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin. 1998;124(2):197. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197

15. Vittersø J. Personality traits and subjective well-being: emotional stability, not extraversion, is probably the important predictor. Personality and Individual Differences. 2001;31(6):903–914. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00192-6

16. Gietz C., McIntosh K. Relations between student perceptions of their school environment and academic achievement. Canadian Journal of School Psychology. 2014;29(3):161–176. doi:10.1177/0829573514540415

17. Aseeva I.N., Kokoreva N.A. Influence of the educational environment on the formation of individual-psychological characteristics of the personality of middle-level schoolchildren. Vestnik Samarskoj gumanitarnoj akademii. Seriya: Psihologiya. = Bulletin of the Samara Humanitarian Academy. Series: Psychology. 2013;2(14):3–17. (In Russ.) Accessed August 29, 2024. https://elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_21421973_32996804.pdf

18. Oberle E. Early adolescents’ emotional well‐being in the classroom: the role of personal and contextual assets. Journal of School Health. 2018;88(2):101–111. doi:10.1111/josh.12585

19. Tharani A., Husain Y., Warwick I. Learning environment and emotional well-being: a qualitative study of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 2017;59:82–87. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2017.09.008

20. Bücker S., Nuraydin S., Simonsmeier B.A., Schneider M., Luhmann M. Subjective well-being and academic achievement: a meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality. 2018;74:83–94. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2018.02.007

21. Sánchez García M. Á., Lucas-Molina B., Fonseca-Pedrero E., Pérez-Albéniz A., Paino M. Emotional and behavioral difficulties in adolescence: relationship with emotional well-being, affect, and academic performance. Anales de Psicología. 2018;34(3):482–489. doi:10.6018/analesps.34.3.296631

22. Lv B., Zhou H., Guo X., Liu C., Liu Z., Luo L. The relationship between academic achievement and the emotional well-being of elementary school children in China: the moderating role of parent-school communication. Frontiers in Psychology. 2016;7:948. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00948

23. Geertshuis S.A. Slaves to our emotions: examining the predictive relationship between emotional well-being and academic outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education. 2019;20(2):153–166. doi:10.1177/1469787418808932

24. Mammadov S. Big Five personality traits and academic performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Personality. 2022;90(2):222–255. doi:10.1111/jopy.12663

25. Smrtnik-Vitulić H., Zupančič M. Personality traits as a predictor of academic achievement in adolescents. Educational Studies. 2011;37(2):127–140. doi:10.1080/03055691003729062

26. Caprara G.V., Vecchione M., Alessandri G., Gerbino M., Barbaranelli C. The contribution of personality traits and self‐efficacy beliefs to academic achievement: a longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2011;81(1):78–96. doi:10.1348/2044-8279.002004

27. Sorić I., Penezić Z., Burić I. The Big Five personality traits, goal orientations, and academic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences. 2017;54:126–134. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2017.01.024

28. Hamilton M., Redmond G. Conceptualisation of Social and Emotional Wellbeing for Children and Young People, and Policy Implications. Canberra: ARACY&AIHW; 2010. 75 p. doi:10.4225/50/557E0CB-86CB5D

29. Druzhinin V.N. Psihologija obshhih sposobnostej = Psychology of General Abilities. 3rd edition. St. Petersburg; Publishing House Piter; 2007. 368 p. (In Russ.)

30. Shabalina M.R. Pedagogical conditions for increasing the academic success of students. Vestnik Vyatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Bulletin of Vyatka State Humanitarian University. 2009;2(3):59–63. (In Russ.) Accessed August 29, 2024. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/pedagogicheskie-usloviya-povysheniya-akademicheskoy-uspeshnosti-studentov

31. Osin E.N. Measuring positive and negative affect: development of a Russian-language analogue of PANAS. Psihologiya. Zhurnal vysshej shkoly ekonomiki = Psychology. Journal of Higher School of Economics. 2012;9(1):91–110. (In Russ.) Accessed August 29, 2024. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/izmerenie-pozitivnyh-i-negativnyh-emotsiy-razrabotka-russkoyazychnogo-analoga-metodiki-panas

32. Sychev O.A., Gordeeva T.O., Lunkina M.V., Osin E.N., Sidneva A.N. Multidimensional students’ life satisfaction scale. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. 2018;23(6):5–15. (In Russ.) doi:10.17759/pse.2018230601

33. Shrestha N. Factor analysis as a tool for survey analysis. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. 2021;9(1):4–11. doi:10.12691/ajams-9-1-2

34. Zhozhikashvili N.A., Malykh A.S., Devyaterikova A.A. Mental stability. Teoreticheskaya i eksperimental’naya psihologiya = The Theoretical and Experimental Psychology. 2021;24(4):49–65. (In Russ.) doi:10.24412/2073-0861-2021-4-49-65

35. Ulyanina O.A., Fedonkina A.A., Khairova Z.R., Radchikova N.P. Oprosnik “Sil’nye storony i trudnosti” (SST) R. Gudmana (baza dlja aprobacii): Nabor dannyh = R. Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SQD) (Testing Base): Dataset. Moscow; 2024. (In Russ.) doi:10.48612/MSUPE/2355-25ah-t9m4

36. Malykh S.B., Tikhomirova T.N., Vasin G.M. Adaptation of the Russian version of the “Big Five Questionnaire – Children (BFG-C)”. Teoreticheskaya i eksperimental’naya psihologiya = The Theoretical and Experimental Psychology. 2015;8(4):6–12. (In Russ.) Accessed August 29, 2024. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/adaptatsiya-russkoyazychnoy-versii-oprosnika-bolshaya-pyaterka-detskiy-variant

37. Oshio A., et al. Resilience and Big Five personality traits: a meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018:127:54–60. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.048

38. Tariq F.T., Naqvi I. Relationship between personality traits and prosocial behavior among adolescents. Foundation University Journal of Psychology. 2020;4(2):54–63. doi:10.33897/fujp.v4i2.79

39. Breslau N., Breslau J., Miller E., Raykov Т. Behavior problems at ages 6 and 11 and high school academic achievement: longitudinal latent variable modeling. Psychiatry Research. 2011;185(3):433– 437. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2010.07.027

40. Pilkauskaite-Valickiene R., Gabrialaviciute I. The role of school context on subjective well-being and social well-being in adolescence. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2015;191:2588–2592. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.701

41. Bordwine V.C., Huebner E.S. The role of coping in mediating the relationship between positive affect and school satisfaction in adolescents. Child Indicators Research. 2010;3:349–366. doi:10.1007/s12187-010-9063-5

42. Eliseeva O.A. Subjective well-being of adolescents and psychological security of educational environment. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. 2011;3(3). (In Russ.) Accessed October 13, 2024. https://psyjournals.ru/journals/psyedu/archive/2011_n3/47424

43. Baeva I.A., Gayazova L.A. Psychological security of school’s educational environment and its psychological educational support. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. 2012;4(3). (In Russ.) Accessed October 13, 2024. https://psyjournals.ru/journals/psyedu/archive/2012_n3/55542