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The Influence of Student Personality Traits on Satisfaction and Success in Online Education in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Online learning is a growing area in occupational therapy education. It is important for faculty to use the modality of online learning to understand the influence of student personality traits, defined as relatively stable characteristics that influence thinking and behavior, on student satisfaction and success in graduate level programs. By understanding the influence of personality traits, faculty can better develop online materials that are flexible enough to support individuals who may have a higher risk of low satisfaction and success. There has been plentiful research in the areas of education and psychology assessing the influence of personality on the online learning experience. The goal of this systematic review was to collect, evaluate, and synthesize this literature to provide guidance to faculty working in or developing online courses or programs in occupational therapy. This systematic review was conducted according to the Cochrane Collaboration methodology and reporting is consistent with the PRISMA guidelines. The article search included January 2000 through June 2024. After duplicates were removed 848 articles remained, ultimately 99 were eligible for a full text review, and 23 were included in the three themes which were synthesized based on design and type of online education. The review highlights what is currently known related to the influence of personality type on online education. The information can be used to help sensitize educators to the influence different personality types can have when teaching online courses.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

4-30-2025

Publication Title

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Publisher

Encompass

Volume

9

Issue

2

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