Prediction of school achievement through a multi-factorial approach - The unique role of chronotype

The present study examined the predictability of school achievement with variables from biosocial, cognitive, and psychological domains: gender, chronotype, intelligence, and conscientiousness. Results showed a positive relationship between GPA and chronotype (r = 0.13), GPA and intelligence (r = 0.34), and between chronotype and conscientiousness (r = 0.22). The predictors together explained about 14% of variance in GPA. The variance in school achievement was explained the most by intelligence followed by gender and chronotype. Chronotype was significantly correlated with school achievement even when controlled for the effects of intelligence and gender. These findings add to our knowledge about the nature of school achievement and also about the particular role of chronotype in learning.