Dr. Kayla BurdHe, Andrew2024-05-092024-05-092024-05-09https://wyoscholar.uwyo.edu/handle/internal/9664https://doi.org/10.15786/wyoscholar/9876Fatherlessness is a social issue that affects one in five American children (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Psychological research demonstrates that fatherless children in primary and secondary education perform worse academically compared to children who grew up with both parents, with more research suggesting that supportive fathers play a role in children’s cognitive stimulation and development (Cabrera et al., 2000; Pougnet et al., 2011). However, the relationship between fatherlessness and academic performance weakens in college students, and the literature remains unclear by which mechanism fatherlessness affects academic performance (Baron, 2010; Scott, 2017). The current research examined the relationship between fatherlessness and academic performance and investigated possible mechanisms (e.g., conscientiousness, emotional intelligence) that might mediate this relationship in college populations. This study hypothesized that the respective effects of supportive and negative paternal relationships on GPA would be mediated by the personality trait of conscientiousness. This study also hypothesized that the respective effects of supportive and negative paternal relationships with on GPA will be mediated by emotional intelligence. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of a) supportive paternal relationships on GPA as mediated by conscientiousness, b) negative paternal relationships on GPA as mediated by conscientiousness, c) supportive paternal relationships on GPA as mediated by emotional intelligence, and d) negative paternal relationships on GPA as mediated by emotional intelligence. Results suggested that growing up without a father may lead to lower levels of conscientiousness and emotional intelligence, which are negatively associated with GPA.en-USAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United Stateshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/fatherlessnesspersonalityconscientiousnessTrait EIGPAThesis