NEUROTICISM AND SCHOOL ATTAINMENT - LINEAR RELATIONSHIP

Summary. In a follow‐up study 2,995 Aberdeen children aged about 13 years were given the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory. School attainment was measured by teachers' average rank order in class, scaled on a verbal reasoning test. The relationships between attainment and the personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion were examined. Evidence is presented which suggests that the relationship between neuroticism and attainment is linear; high attainment in this age‐group was associated with stability. The results for extraversion showed a sex difference, which may explain earlier conflicting findings. Girls who were stable extraverts and boys who were stable introverts formed superior groups. These relationships were also present among the brightest children. 1968 The British Psychological Society