Academic Performance: The Role of Self-Regulation, Personality and Physical Activity

Abstract

Academic performance is considered to be an important criterion for the appropriate and effective development of youth in our society, as those who perform better in academics during school and college are more likely to attain greater job and economic success. This study was aimed at understanding the effects of past performance, self-regulation, personality and physical activity on academic performance. The sample consisted of 400 students, between the age range 18-25 years, belonging to the engineering and the science branches from three different colleges in Patiala city of Punjab, India. Data were collected by administering the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and the Short Form Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) along with the marks for the last two offline semesters. A correlational design was used. The results of the study revealed that past performance, self-regulation and openness to experience showed a significant positive relationship with academic performance. Physical activity, on the other hand, was found to have a significant negative relationship with academic performance.