The relationship between learning and study strategies and big five personality traits among junior university student teachers

•The association between Big Five factors and learning strategies was explored.•521 Greek student teachers took the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI).•LASSI's factorial structure did not match the one proposed by the developers.•Extraversion and Neuroticism predicted the use of learning and study strategies.•Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness showed mixed results.

The present study examined the predictive association between big five personality traits and learning and study strategies in a sample of 521 Greek University junior student teachers, after thoroughly assessing the psychometric properties of the second edition of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the factorial structure of the Greek translation of the scale did not reflect the three components of strategic learning identified by the scale developers, but was in line with evidence from psychometric studies of LASSI's first edition. Regression analyses revealed that high Extraversion and low Neuroticism scores predicted participants' use of learning and study strategies, while Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness presented mixed results. The results pose the need to take into consideration university students' personality traits for the implementation of more individualized educational interventions.