Relations between the Big Five personality traits of prospective early childhood pedagogues and their beliefs about the education of preschool children: Evidence from a German study

The study investigated relations between the Big Five and beliefs about the education of preschool children of prospective early childhood pedagogues by using Latent Profile Analysis. We used data from 1137 participants attending 111 professional schools of social pedagogy and 32 universities. Three latent profiles were found: (a) an ambitious profile with high endorsements of educational beliefs, (b) a moderate profile with medium-level endorsements, and (c) a reserved profile with low endorsements. Respondents with higher agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism were more likely to be members of the ambitious profile relative to the moderate profile; those with higher conscientiousness and openness were more likely to be classified as ambitious as opposed to reserved; and members with higher openness were more likely to belong to the moderate profile relative to the reserved profile. The findings are discussed with regard to their implications for research and practice.