Nika David, Grüttner Michael, Buchholz Sandra
German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Hannover, Germany.
Front Sociol. 2025 Aug 22;10:1652429. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1652429. eCollection 2025.
A vast amount of research has shown that social inequality in educational attainment is a persistent phenomenon. Sociological research explains unequal educational decisions via primary and secondary effects of social origin, respectively unequal school performance and patterns of educational decision-making. So far, educational sociology has largely ignored the role of personality traits for educational decision-making. Therefore, we extend the sociological perspective on primary and secondary effects of social origin to include personality traits as non-cognitive resources. Three plausible mechanisms could be at work: (1) For students from low social origins, favourable personality traits could compensate for the lack of other important resources and be more important for their study intention (). (2) Although students from low social origins benefit most from personal traits, they lack precisely these personal resources (). (3) Students from high social origins have more favourable personality traits and can also profit more from them (). Using data from the DZHW Panel Study of School Leavers with a Higher Education Entrance Qualification, we estimate a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the direct, indirect, and total effects of personality traits on the intention to enrol in higher education. Results are twofold: First, personality traits are significant determinants of primary and secondary effects of social origin. Second and most importantly, openness proves to be a key resource: while students from less advantaged social origin generally display lower levels of openness, this group benefits most from this trait in forming their intention to pursue higher education-a pattern consistent with structural amplification. These results highlight the dual role of personality traits in both enabling individual upward mobility and contributing to the persistence of social inequality. The study underscores the importance of considering non-cognitive resources in explanations of educational inequality and points to potential interventions aimed at fostering openness.
大量研究表明，教育成就方面的社会不平等是一个长期存在的现象。社会学研究分别通过社会出身的初级和次级效应来解释不平等的教育决策，即不平等的学业成绩和教育决策模式。到目前为止，教育社会学在很大程度上忽略了人格特质在教育决策中的作用。因此，我们将社会出身的初级和次级效应的社会学视角扩展到将人格特质作为非认知资源纳入其中。可能有三种合理的机制在起作用：（1）对于社会出身较低的学生来说，有利的人格特质可以弥补其他重要资源的不足，并且对他们的学习意愿更为重要（）。（2）虽然社会出身较低的学生从个人特质中受益最大，但他们恰恰缺乏这些个人资源（）。（3）社会出身较高的学生具有更有利的人格特质，并且也能从这些特质中获得更多益处（）。利用德国高等教育入学资格离校生面板研究（DZHW Panel Study of School Leavers with a Higher Education Entrance Qualification）的数据，我们估计了一个结构方程模型（SEM），以检验人格特质对高等教育入学意愿的直接、间接和总体效应。结果有两方面：第一，人格特质是社会出身初级和次级效应的重要决定因素。第二且最重要的是，开放性被证明是一种关键资源：虽然社会出身较不利的学生通常表现出较低的开放性水平，但这一群体在形成接受高等教育的意愿时从这一特质中受益最大——这一模式与结构放大相一致。这些结果凸显了人格特质在促进个人向上流动和导致社会不平等持续存在方面的双重作用。该研究强调了在解释教育不平等时考虑非认知资源的重要性，并指出了旨在培养开放性的潜在干预措施。
