Abstract

Even though the discipline of psychology and education had gained its reputation all along, few studies have been conducted to determine the characteristics of the potential first-class undergraduate students. Thus, this study was designed to examine the demographic and psychographic profiles of the potential first-class undergraduates in a Malaysian public university. The selected respondents comprised of 424 undergraduates who obtained at least 3.67 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in their academic achievement in the period of their study. This study used a self-administered questionnaire that had adapted from the standardized measures. Validity and reliability of the instruments were found to be satisfactory. The results of the study indicate that the potential first-class undergraduates have the highest level on task orientation whereas time management scores the lowest. Also, the results reveal that more than 99% of the students have either moderate or high levels of psychographic attributes. In addition, the MANOVA results indicate that there are significant differences between male and female undergraduate students in their task orientation and leisure attitude. Likewise, significant differences between ethnic groups are found in task orientation, competitiveness, and general self-efficacy. Thus, the findings of this study are able to assist the higher education providers in providing coaching and mentoring to ensure more effective strategies could be developed to improve students’ needs and desires in pursuing their further education.

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