Predicting Academic Success with the Big 5 Rated from Different Points of View: Self-Rated, Other Rated and Faked

Self-ratings of personality predict academic success above general intelligence. The present study replicated these findings and investigated the increment of other-ratings or intentionally distorted self-ratings. Participants (N = 145) had to compile a personality questionnaire twice. First they were given neutral instructions. The second time they were asked to imagine a specific applicant setting. Furthermore, two peers rated each participant. Additionally, verbal, numerical and figural reasoning scores were obtained. Grades on a statistics exam obtained 2 months later served as the criterion. Results replicated prior findings and showed incremental validity for self- and other-rated personality, which was stable after controlling for intelligence. Faking had no impact on the domain-score level, but results on the facet-score level were less encouraging. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.