Academic underachievement: Relationship with cognitive motivation, achievement motivation, and conscientiousness

Abstract In this study, the role of need for cognition, achievement motivation, and conscientiousness on academic underachievement was investigated. Forty‐seven male and 46 female students in Grades 7 to 10 participated in the study. Student attributes were assessed by self‐report measures, school performance by academic grades, and intellectual abilities by a standardized structure of intelligence test. A regression analytic model (prediction of grade point average by general intelligence) was used to operationally define underachievement. A categorical cutoff definition as well as a continuous definition was investigated. All relationships between underachievement scores and need for cognition, achievement motivation scales, and conscientiousness showed linearity. This warranted the use of a continuous definition of underachievement. Results revealed that need for cognition as well as facilitating anxiety contributed the most to the explanation of underachievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 401–411, 2006.