Thus, we predicted that because students with higher self-motivation
scores would work harder and persist in the face of obstacles
to achieve their educational goals, they would achieve higher
university GPAs than students with lower self-motivation scores,
even when their level of conscientiousness (organization and
attention to detail) is low. That is, we expected that a high level
of self-motivation could compensate for a low level of conscientiousness.
On the other hand, we expected that a high level of conscientiousness
would compensate for a low level of selfmotivation,
because students who organize their activities well
and pay a lot of attention to detail should succeed in their studies
even when a high level of self-motivation is lacking.