ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Personality traits have been consistently proven to have an extent of influence on individual’s behavior, emotion, and cognition. In the university setting, various studies noted different personality traits predispose students to varied academic preference and performance, decision making styles, probability of obtaining a university degree, and furthermore, happiness. The purpose of this review was to explore how university students’ personality traits were investigated in past research and the effects that comes with different personality traits. Precisely, this literature review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies which assigned personality traits as an independent variable among university students in Malaysia and published from the year 2013 to 2022 were included. The initial search retrieved 668 articles, with 21 articles included in this review. Summarily, this review found evidence that personality traits are not limited to The Big-Five categories as personality traits have been investigated within different epistemologies. Within the context of university students in Malaysia, personality traits predispose certain outcomes such academic performance, motivation, coping strategies, language learning, level of stress, and happiness. These outcomes, however, could be influenced by other underlying affects and mediators. This review could provide utility to university students, tertiary educational institutions, mental health institutions and other related bodies not only in the assessment of personality traits and their effects, but also in recognizing personality traits as one of university students’ inextricable assets.
Abdollahi, A., Ahmed, A. A. A., Suksatan, W., Kumar, T., Majeed, M. S., Zainal, A. G., ... & Allen, K. A. (2022). Courage: a potential mediator of the relationship between personality and social anxiety. Psychological Studies, 67(1), 53-62.
Ali, M., Yaacob, R. A. I. B. R., & Endut, M. N. A. B. (2016). Understanding the academic use of social media: integration of personality with TAM. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 90(1), 1.
Ariff, N. M., Bakar, M. A. A., & Zamzuri, Z. H. (2020). Academic preference based on students’ personality analysis through k-means clustering. Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 16(3), 328-333.
Bajwa, R. S., Batool, I., Asma, M., Ali, H., & Ajmal, A. (2016). Personality traits and decision-making styles among university students (Pakistan). Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 14(1), 38-41.
Bhagat, V., Haque, M., Simbak, N. B., & Jaalam, K. (2016). Study on personality dimension negative emotionality affecting academic achievement among Malaysian medical students studying in Malaysia and overseas. Advances in medical education and practice, 7, 341.
Bhagat, V., Shetty, C. K., Husain, R., Mat, K. C., Simbak, N. B., Aung, M. M. T., & Oo, S. S. (2019). The relationship between big five personality traits and academic performance in medical students. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 12(9), 4189-4196.
Raj, B. J. (1992). Manual of the Medico Psychological Questionnaire. Mysore: Swayasiddha Prakashana.
Chung, K. L., Morshidi, I., Yoong, L. C., & Thian, K. N. (2019). The role of the dark tetrad and impulsivity in social media addiction: Findings from Malaysia. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 62-67.
Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of general psychiatry, 50(12), 975–990. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820240059008
Costa, P. T., McCrae, R. R., & Löckenhoff, C. E. (2019). Personality across the life span. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 423-448.
De Raad, B., Barelds, D. P., Levert, E., Ostendorf, F., Mlacic, B., Di Blas, L., Hrebickova, M., Szirmak, Z., Szarota, P., Perugini, M., Church, A. T., & Katigbak, M. S. (2010). Only three factors of personality description are fully replicable across languages: a comparison of 14 trait taxonomies. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(1), 160–173. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017184
Eysenck, H. J. (1968). Manual for the Eysenck personality inventory, Education and industrial testing service. San Diego: University of California.
Feher, A., & Vernon, P. A. (2021). Looking beyond the Big Five: A selective review of alternatives to the Big Five model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 169, 110002.
Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative" description of personality": the big-five factor structure. Journal of personality and social psychology, 59(6), 1216.
Hassan, A. B., Begum, T., Reza, M. F., & Yusoff, N. (2016). How Much We Think of Ourselves and How Little We Think of Others: An Investigation of the Neuronal Signature of Self-Consciousness between Different Personality Traits through an Event-Related Potential Study. The Malaysian journal of medical sciences: MJMS, 23(6), 70.
Jung, C. (1923). Psychological Types. Harcourt, Brace, Oxford, England.
Klobas, J. E., McGill, T. J., Moghavvemi, S., & Paramanathan, T. (2018). Compulsive YouTube usage: A comparison of use motivation and personality effects. Computers in Human Behavior, 87, 129-139.
Lei, L. Y. C., Ismail, M. A. A., Mohammad, J. A. M., & Yusoff, M. S. B. (2020). The relationship of smartphone addiction with psychological distress and neuroticism among university medical students. BMC psychology, 8(1), 1-9.
Mahendra, J. P., & Humayra, I. (2019). The Effect of Big Five Personality on Happiness of Sasak Lombok Ethnicity Students in Malang. In 4th ASEAN Conference on Psychology, Counselling, and Humanities (ACPCH 2018) (pp. 248-250). Atlantis Press.
Mateus, C., Campis, R., Aguaded, I., Parody, A., & Ruiz, F. (2021). Analysis of personality traits and academic performance in higher education at a Colombian university. Heliyon, 7(5), e06998.
Matz, S., Chan, Y. W. F., & Kosinski, M. (2016). Models of personality. In M. Tkalc?ic?, B. De Carolis, M. De Gemmis, A. Odic, & A. Kosir (Eds.), Emotions and personality in personalized services: Models, evaluation and applications. NewYork, NY: Springer International Publishing. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31413-6 _3
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, J. P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(1), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.1.81.
Nechita, F., Alexandru, D. O., Turcu-Stiolica, R., & Nechita, D. (2015). The Influence of Personality Factors and Stress on Academic Performance. Current health sciences journal, 41(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.12865/CHSJ.41.01.07
Othman, Z., Lee, C. W., & Kueh, Y. C. (2017). Internet addiction and personality: Association with impulsive sensation seeking and neuroticism-anxiety traits. Int Med J, 24(5), 375-8.
Rahaman, H. S. (2014). Personality and decision-making styles of university students. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 40(1), 138.
Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current directions in psychological science, 17(1), 31-35.
Roberts, B. W., Nickel, L. B., & Specht, J. (2017). Personality development across the lifespan.
Sam, C. P., Mamat, N. H., & Nadarajah, V. D. (2022). An exploratory study on the challenges faced and coping strategies used by preclinical medical students during the COVID-19 crisis. Korean Journal of Medical Education, 34(2), 95-106.
Schurer, S., de New née Kassenboehmer, S. C., & Leung, F. (2015). Do universities shape their students' personality? Available at SSRN 2575053.
Stephan, Y., Sutin, A. R., Luchetti, M., Bosselut, G., & Terracciano, A. (2018). Physical activity and personality development over twenty years: Evidence from three longitudinal samples. Journal of research in personality, 73, 173-179.
Tan, C. S., Low, S. K., & Viapude, G. N. (2018). Extraversion and happiness: The mediating role of social support and hope. PsyCh journal, 7(3), 133-143.
Tang, K. H. D. (2020). Personality traits, teamwork competencies and academic performance among first-year engineering students. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning.
Toh, S. Y., Kaur, R., & Tehseen, S. (2022). Why Am I Stressed Out? Neglecting the Internal Stressors among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia. International Journal of Health, Wellness & Society, 12(1).
Wang, X., & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cross-sectional studies: strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. Chest, 158(1), S65-S71.
Wen, X., Zhao, Y., Yang, Y. T., Wang, S., & Cao, X. (2021). Do students with different majors have different personality traits? Evidence from two Chinese agricultural universities. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 641333.
Shen, Y. Y., Ramzi, N. H., & Gopinath, D. (2022). Personality Traits and Sociodemographic Factors Associated with the Use of E-Cigarettes, Waterpipe and Conventional Cigarettes among Medical University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), 7000.
Yusoff, M. S. B., Hadie, S. N. H., & Yasin, M. A. M. (2021). The roles of emotional intelligence, neuroticism, and academic stress on the relationship between psychological distress and burnout in medical students. BMC medical education, 21(1), 1-10.
Yusoff, M. S. B., Pa, M. N. M., Mey, S. C., Aziz, R. A., & Rahim, A. F. A. (2013). A longitudinal study of relationships between previous academic achievement, emotional intelligence and personality traits with psychological health of medical students during stressful periods. Education for Health, 26(1), 39.
Yusoff, M. S. B., Rahim, A. F. A., & Ab Rahman Esa. (2010). The USM personality inventory (USMaP-i) manual. Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Yusof, Z. Y., Hassan, W. N. W., Razak, I. A., Hashim, S. M. N., Tahir, M. K. A. M., & Keng, S. B. (2016). Personality traits and stress levels among senior dental students: evidence from Malaysia and Singapore. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health, 47(6), 1353-1365.
Zainah, M., Muhammad, N. A. A., & Nor, S. A. (2019). Adult personality and its relationship with stress level and coping mechanism among final year medical students. Medicine & Health, 14(2), 154-167.
Zarina, M. P., Dahalan, W. M., Yusop, M. Y. M., Nurain, J., Rasid, N. A., Yahaya, A. H., ... & Rahman, F. A. (2022). Barriers to Speaking in English Among Maritime Students. International Journal of Health, Wellness & Society, 12(1), 79-93.
Ziapour, A., Khatony, A., Jafari, F., & Kianipour, N. (2018). Correlation of Personality Traits with Happiness among University Students. Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, 12(4).
Zuckerman, M. (1991). Psychobiology of personality. Cambridge. UK: Cambridge University Press.
In-Text Citation: (Yong et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Yong, C., Zainudin, Z. N., Anuar, M. A. M., & Othman, W. N. W. (2022). Personality Traits and their Effects among University Students in Malaysia: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(10), 1201 – 1217.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non0-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode