Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of a second-order state-like construct “psychological capital” (or PsyCap) as an underlying mechanism explaining the personality–academic achievement (AA) relationship in the educational context.

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptual model was statistically tested on a sample of 305 post-graduate students at a premier business school in central India using standard measures of personality and PsyCap. AA was measured through cumulative grade point average obtained from the administrative office. Data were collected through multiple sources to minimize common method variance. Analysis was done using macro PROCESS and validated using PLS–SEM.

Findings

Results indicated that PsyCap positively influenced AA. Furthermore, PsyCap mediated the relationship between openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness dimensions of student personality and AA.

Research limitations/implications

Longitudinal research designs with interventions to enhance PsyCap of students may strengthen the findings of this study.