This article explores high-maintenance students in the university setting: those students who complain and whine, beyond reasonable limits, thereby exhausting their instructor’s energy. By drawing heavily on the personality literature, I advance a conceptual foundation, research propositions, and suggestions for future research regarding high-maintenance students. Specifically, the abridged big five dimensional circumplex (AB5DC) model is applied to examine the multivariate influence of dispositional profiles on high-maintenance student behaviors. Finally, implications for instructors are explored, as drawn from the education and management literature base.
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