Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines
Objective The attraction, selection, and attrition model posits that individuals actively self‐select into vocational and educational environments based on their personality traits and values. The present study investigated whether pre‐existing empathy and psychopathic personality trait differences...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12263 |
| _version_ | 1797681631950012416 |
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| author | Verity Litten Lynne D. Roberts Richard K. Ladyshewsky Emily Castell Robert Kane |
| author_facet | Verity Litten Lynne D. Roberts Richard K. Ladyshewsky Emily Castell Robert Kane |
| author_sort | Verity Litten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective The attraction, selection, and attrition model posits that individuals actively self‐select into vocational and educational environments based on their personality traits and values. The present study investigated whether pre‐existing empathy and psychopathic personality trait differences in newly enrolled first year undergraduate students predicted selection into psychology and business vocational pathways respectively. Method An online self‐report survey collected data on levels of psychopathic traits and empathy from 380 newly enrolled first year business and psychology undergraduate students to examine whether these pre‐existing personality traits could predict academic discipline attraction and selection. Results Binary logistic regression analysis partially supported the proposed hypotheses. Cognitive empathy, gender, and social desirability scores were found to be significant predictors of student discipline, with females, those with higher cognitive empathy and lower social desirability scores more likely to be attracted and selected into a psychology rather than a business degree. Small to moderate effect size differences were observed, with psychology students reporting significantly higher cognitive empathy (d = 0.53) and lower interpersonal psychopathy (d = 0.27) than business students. Conclusions Findings highlight specific personality trait differences present between newly enrolled business and psychology students and the importance of these pre‐existing differences in student vocational decision‐making. It is anticipated that findings may assist vocational and career counsellors in guiding prospective students in the direction of a vocational pathway that is best suited to their personality, as this is likely to result in increased student satisfaction and self‐esteem whilst reducing student attrition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:47:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-15bd5af9098140f488de2c3a93b31a32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0004-9530 1742-9536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:47:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-15bd5af9098140f488de2c3a93b31a322023-09-19T08:54:47ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAustralian Journal of Psychology0004-95301742-95362020-03-017219310510.1111/ajpy.1226312098962Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplinesVerity Litten0Lynne D. Roberts1Richard K. Ladyshewsky2Emily Castell3Robert Kane4Curtin UniversityCurtin UniversityCurtin UniversityCurtin UniversityCurtin UniversityObjective The attraction, selection, and attrition model posits that individuals actively self‐select into vocational and educational environments based on their personality traits and values. The present study investigated whether pre‐existing empathy and psychopathic personality trait differences in newly enrolled first year undergraduate students predicted selection into psychology and business vocational pathways respectively. Method An online self‐report survey collected data on levels of psychopathic traits and empathy from 380 newly enrolled first year business and psychology undergraduate students to examine whether these pre‐existing personality traits could predict academic discipline attraction and selection. Results Binary logistic regression analysis partially supported the proposed hypotheses. Cognitive empathy, gender, and social desirability scores were found to be significant predictors of student discipline, with females, those with higher cognitive empathy and lower social desirability scores more likely to be attracted and selected into a psychology rather than a business degree. Small to moderate effect size differences were observed, with psychology students reporting significantly higher cognitive empathy (d = 0.53) and lower interpersonal psychopathy (d = 0.27) than business students. Conclusions Findings highlight specific personality trait differences present between newly enrolled business and psychology students and the importance of these pre‐existing differences in student vocational decision‐making. It is anticipated that findings may assist vocational and career counsellors in guiding prospective students in the direction of a vocational pathway that is best suited to their personality, as this is likely to result in increased student satisfaction and self‐esteem whilst reducing student attrition.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12263educational psychologyempathyindividual differencespersonalitypsychology and other disciplinespsychopathy |
| spellingShingle | Verity Litten Lynne D. Roberts Richard K. Ladyshewsky Emily Castell Robert Kane Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines Australian Journal of Psychology educational psychology empathy individual differences personality psychology and other disciplines psychopathy |
| title | Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| title_full | Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| title_fullStr | Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| title_short | Empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| title_sort | empathy and psychopathic traits as predictors of selection into business or psychology disciplines |
| topic | educational psychology empathy individual differences personality psychology and other disciplines psychopathy |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12263 |
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