Facets of conscientiousness and their differential relationships with cognitive ability factors

•Eight-facet structure of Conscientiousness replicated in a college sample.•Facets showed differential relationships with Cognitive Ability factors.•Facets showed differential prediction of collegiate GPA.

This study examined relationships between conscientiousness facets and both broad factors of cognitive ability and collegiate GPA. Students responded to 117 Conscientiousness items and 15 cognitive tests demarcating fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, quantitative reasoning, visual processing, and broad retrieval ability. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the eight-factor model found in MacCann, Duckworth, and Roberts (2009). Conscientiousness facet correlations with Cognitive Ability and GPA revealed that Cautiousness exhibited the highest correlation with Cognitive Ability, while Industriousness showed the strongest relationship with GPA. Procrastination Refrainment was the only facet negatively related to Cognitive Ability. Implications of these results are discussed in light of previous research and the potentially moderating effect of high- versus low-stakes testing on the relationship between conscientiousness and cognitive ability.