Neuroticism and academic achievement: the Furneaux Factor as a measure of academic rigour

The neuroticism-superego interaction or Furneaux Factor was investigated in a sample of 110 modular, social sciences degree students at the University of East London. Negligible or negative correlations between neuroticism and academic achievement were found for the low superego group of students. For the high superego group, the correlations were positive, reaching 0.48 (P<0.02) for final degree classification. From the low to the high superego groups there was an increase of 0.46 (P<0.05) in the positive correlation between neuroticism and achievement from the first to the third year of the course. When students reading non-examined subjects were removed, the high superego group correlation rose to 0.79 (P<0.005) for final degree classification and the increase in the positive correlation between neuroticism and achievement from low to high superego groups rose to 0.90 (P<0.002) from the first to the third year. It is suggested that the Furneaux Factor, as well as clarifying the relationship between neuroticism and academic achievement, provides an estimate of a courseʹs perceived difficulty and thus, perhaps, its rigour.