PAPER #92 - Interests, cognitive and personality factors in academic performance at high school level.

The present study was carried out on 370 pupils in the 9th and 11th grades of four high schools in Brasov, out of which two have a high value standard, one has an average value standard and one has a lower value standard. The main purpose of the study was to validate a newly created Battery of Vocational Aptitudes (BVA). Secondarily I tried to highlight the gender differences and the differences that appear at the beginning and at the end of high school when we speak about school results. For this I took into consideration the conjugated action of cognitive and personality factors, and of occupational domains in order to obtain academic performances which are expressed by grade point average (GPA). The results show the predominant role cognitive factors have in obtaining school achievements at high school level, and confirm the e11stence of important differences in connection to gender, parents' studies, structure of the investigated pupils' interests and personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]