Effect of

Personality Traits
on Performance
Prepared by:

Abu Shoaib Khan

Supervisor:

Prof. Mominul Haque Talukder

School of Business
North South University

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Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Significance and Objective ........................................................................................................................... 5
Review of literature & Hypothesis Building................................................................................................. 6
Extroversion .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Conscientiousness ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Agreeableness ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Interpersonal relationships ........................................................................................................................ 8
Attitude ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
The Conceptual Model .................................................................................................................................. 9
Research Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 10
Designing questionnaire: ........................................................................................................................ 10
Dependent and Independent Variables: .................................................................................................. 10
Organization of research: ........................................................................................................................ 11
Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Reliability Statistics .................................................................................................................................... 13
Case Processing Summary .......................................................................................................................... 13
Descriptive Statistics (Correlation Matrix) ................................................................................................. 14
Regression Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 15
Discussion ................................................................................................................................................... 19
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 20
References:.................................................................................................................................................. 21

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Abstract
The research studies the effect of the variables of personality traits on performance in an
organization. The variables examined are extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness,
openness to experience, conscientiousness, job satisfaction and job performance. Through these
variables we can understand how an individuals personality traits allow him to contribute to an
organization, i.e. the positive or negative performance of an employee towards his/her
organization. Our research indicated that there is a strong positive relationship between openness
to experience, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, job satisfaction and job
performance. However results show that extroversion has inverse relationship with performance
and employees are reluctant to gregariousness and assertiveness. Extroversion is often the social
able and dogmatic part of an individuals personality, in which our participants showed little
response. The employees pointed out that, apart from these personality traits, good work
environment and a significant amount of fringe benefits always enhance performance. Thus our
research shows that propagating the variables used in the personality traits would generate more
contribution for the organization from its employees.

Keywords: Personality, conscientiousness, attitude, agreeableness, interpersonal relationships.

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Introduction

Personality is one of the most important factors that determine the performance level of
employees. The quality of the workforce is and always will be a major factor that determines the
success of an organization. As a result it would be of great benefit for firms to investigate this
area more thoroughly. By examining the personalities of employees firms will be able to better
understand what motivates its workers, they will be able to filter out those employees whose
personalities are no suitable for the workplace and firms will also be able to devise training
programs to improve the personalities of its employees.

The personality variables that are being studied are the agreeableness, conscientiousness,
emotional stability, openness to new experience and extroversion of employees in the workplace.
These five factors are also present in the Big Five model of Personality Dimensions. In addition
to this the job performance and job satisfaction of employees are also being studied in order to
see what impact personality traits have on these two factors.

Agreeableness is a measure of how cooperative and trusting a person is likely to be. This
trait is very important when it comes to working in teams. Conscientiousness is concerned with
how responsible and organized a person is in his or her day to day activities. A conscientious
worker is a dependable worker. Emotional stability shows the level of self confidence and
security a person possesses. Emotional stability is mandatory for leaders. Openness to new
experience shows the amount of curiosity and imagination a person displays. Extroversion shows
how sociable and assertive a person is likely to be.

In addition we are also considering job satisfaction as a independent factor affecting job
performance. Job satisfaction is a positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics.

By considering these 6 independent variables we hope to gain a better understanding of the

personality traits that lead to good performance in the workplace. As a result we will be able to hire the
best performers and improve productivity.

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Significance and Objective

The corporate world of today is a fierce and competitive place. Firms are always looking for new
ways to improve efficiency and thus gain a competitive edge over its rivals. There are many
factors affecting the degree of success that a firm can achieve, the quality of the workforce is one
such major factor affecting the success of an organization which is why firms go to great lengths
to ensure that their employees are the most qualified and effective. One way of making sure that
firms choose the right people for their workforce is by evaluating the employees personalities.

The objective of this study is to see how big an impact personality traits have on the
performance of employees in the workplace. There are many factors affecting the performance
levels of employees, problems at home, health related issues or the work environment all have a
significant impact on the productivity of employees. However, the most important factor of all is
the personality of the employee because it is the employees personality traits that determine how
that person will deal with any problems at home or at work. Personality traits will also determine
how much effort the employee will exert at the workplace. As the personality of employees has
such a large impact on the firms productivity we have decided to conduct this study.

Personality tests can be used to screen potential candidates that are being interviewed for
a job in the organization. This would help interviewers get a better picture of the interviewees,
firms can then rule out those candidates whose personality would not fit in well at the workplace
and choose those candidates who have the right personality traits for the job.

Managers can also use information about employee personalities when making work
teams. Managers can choose those employees who have personality traits that are required for
teamwork. For example, members of a work team need to be very friendly and agreeable and so
managers can make work teams comprised of employees that have these characteristics.

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Review of literature & Hypothesis Building

Personality traits typically is called the Big Five Model, or the Big Five, is an
impressive dimension which underlies all other and encompasses most of the significant
variation in human personality. Personality is an important determinant of performance in an
organization. The workplace (organization) brings together people from different backgrounds,
philosophies, cultures and most importantly personality. These entire factors along with the five
personality traits encourage cooperation, teamwork and creative thinking which are very crucial
to an organization. Personality differences can mean that individuals take varying approaches to
work style and interacting with co-workers, managers, clients and competitors. Understanding
how personality affects behavior in an organization can help determine what might be motivating
workers to perform or behave in certain ways. Evidence shows that individuals who are
dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized, hardworking, persistent, and
achievement oriented are positively skewed towards higher job performance.

For our primary source we chose Rahimafrooz, one of the largest business groups in
Bangladesh. It consists of nine Strategic Business Units and several other affiliations. We went
to their office and made a survey regarding the effects of personality traits on their performance
at work. Most of them are happy at their work and their job performance is correlated to their job
satisfaction. The personality variables, extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness and
conscientiousness showed to have mostly positive relation with job satisfaction. However,
openness to experience seemed to be a bit apart from job performance, compared to the other
personality variables. People of our country typically tend to be conservative and less susceptible
to ambiguity, as it generally makes task/ work less complicated. Whatever the participants
(employees) feel about the effect on their job performance, the characteristics of personality
traits have the major contribution in influencing their job performance in the organization.

Different personality might affect what motivates people to participate in the workplace.
Creative personalities see the workplace as a place to experiment with new ideas, achieve
different solutions or incorporate artistic elements into products. Communicators may be

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motivated to discuss and debate business decisions. People with compassionate focused
personalities may view their work as serving humanity or making the world a better place.
Competitive employees may view the workplace as an arena where they hope to beat out others
and demonstrate their ability. Although personality may reflect a mixture of several work related
goals, playing to peoples strength can boost motivation and result in better performance. For
example, assigning a competitive type of employee the task of developing a campaign to beat out
your primary competitor may turn out to be a success.

Extroversion
The extroversion dimension describes an individual who is gregarious, assertive and
social. Individuals who are extroverts tend to be happier in both their social and personal life.
They indulge themselves in more positive emotions and express their feelings more freely. Their
extrovert character helps them in the acquisition of significant interpersonal interaction skills,
perhaps because they have more social skills as they have more friends and spend more time in
social outings. A relative important indicator in extroversion character is leadership skill which
in turn adds more in the arena of job performance of an individual in an organization. From the
above it can be hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 1: The extroversion characteristic in an individuals personality is positively related

to job performance and enhancement in an organization.

Conscientiousness
The conscientiousness dimension in an individual measures his/her responsibility. A
conscientious person has high degree of responsibility, is organized, responsible and persistent.
High conscientiousness in a persons personality allows him/her to develop high level of job
knowledge likely due to their great level of effort on their jobs. This high level of job knowledge,
effort, persistence and discipline which they forecast allows them to contribute more in their job
performance. From the above, it can be hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 2: The conscientiousness characteristic in an individuals personality is positively

related to job performance and enhancement in an organization.

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Agreeableness
The agreeableness dimension in personality traits refer to an individuals propensity to
defer to defer to others. People who are highly agreeable show cooperativeness, warmth and
trust. Agreeable individuals are the first choice of an organization as it allows the organization to
work with individuals who are more compliant and conforming. These people are more preferred
in jobs which have high involvement with interpersonal skills such as customer service.
Agreeable people project lower level of deviant behavior. From the above, it can be hypothesized
that:

Hypothesis 3: The agreeableness characteristic in an individuals personality is positively related

to job performance and enhancement in an organization.

Interpersonal relationships
Personalities also affect workplace and job performance when it comes to interpersonal
relations. One common personality model includes the Type A and Type B personality
types. Type A personality tends to do things quickly, feel rushed, and may be angry or hostile.
Type B personality takes a more relaxed approach, completing one thing at a time and expressing
their feelings. In some ways, personality differences can facilitate interpersonal skills. People
might enjoy interacting with individuals whose personality complements their own. But
personality differences can cause problems. Type A personalities might appear to Type B
personalities to cause friction. Type B personalities might seem too emotional to Type A
personalities. From the above, it can be hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 4: Interpersonal relationship is positively related to job performance and

enhancement in an organization.

Attitude
Attitude comes in two flavors: positive and negative. Employees with positive attitudes
approach work completely different than that of employees who have negative mindset. Positive
minded employees often lift the spirit of their colleagues and develop work related goals. As a
result, positive employees typically enjoy work more than the opposite and do not let things that
cant change affect their job performance. Their positive attitude acts as a motivation to complete
tasks at the best of their abilities. From the above, it can be hypothesized that:

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Hypothesis 5: The attitude characteristic in an individuals personality is positively related to job
performance and enhancement in an organization.

The Conceptual Model

Generally 2 types of personality-assessment instruments are used in the organizations, The
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and The Big Five Model. As Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Model
lacks for strong supporting evidence, our selected organization uses The Big Five Model to
predict behavior of their employees. The big five factors of the model are:

Extraversion: implies an energetic approach to the social and material world and
includes traits such as sociability, activity, assertiveness, and positive emotionality. This
factor consists of emotions that can be said to be positive as well as an industrious
personality and ability to relate well with others. Extraverts enjoy other peoples company
and tend to be very active in group efforts. Whereas introverts are reserved, timid and
quiet.
Agreeableness: contrasts a pro-social and communal orientation toward others with
antagonism and includes traits such as altruism, tender-mindedness, trust, and modesty.
Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm and trusting. People who score low on
agreeableness are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic.
Conscientiousness : describes socially prescribed impulse control that facilitates task and
goal-directed behavior, such as thinking before acting, delaying gratification, following
norms and rules, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks.
Emotional Stability: describes even-temperedness with negative emotionality, such as
feeling anxious, nervous, sad, and tense. Individuals scoring low on Emotional Stability
will experience bouts of mood swings triggered by frustrations by minor issues at the
workplace.
Openness to experience : describes the breadth, depth, originality, and complexity of an
individuals mental and experiential life. This factor acts to distinguish conventional
individuals from those who are in one way or the other imaginative. Traits linked to
individuals who are open to experience include intellectual curiosity, sensitivity to beauty
as well as responsiveness to art.

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Research Methodology
To research on given project we designed a questionnaire first to collect data of the employees of
a particular organization. After collecting the data, we observed the personality of the employees
to find out how it affects on their work performances. The research methodology is discussed
broadly below:

Designing questionnaire:
When we designed the questionnaire we included some basic type of questions to find out Why
do individuals differ in the ways that they think, feel, and act? Why do people differ in the way
they respond to the same situations? Although we all know that from person to person, interests,
desires and abilities can vary substantially. Extensive research has shown that there are
consistent patterns in the way that one interacts with his or her work environment across
situations and time. So we tried to figure out the nature of differences in the way people
experience and respond to the work place.

As we know that there are five underlying personality traits that account for individual
differences. These traits are Extraversion, Emotional
Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience. This personality test is
designed to learn more about the Five Factor Model . Based upon the answers to a variety of
items, an employee will receive a report summarizing his/her standing in the "Big Five"
traits along with what their scores may imply about the type of personality that they have.

In order to learn how the Big Five traits relate to other aspects of personality, the test also
includes several experimental items on topics such as job satisfaction and job performance. Their
responses will serve to further collaborative research on the nature of personality.

Dependent and Independent Variables:

The previous table indicates that how the employee behavior and the employee performance is
dependent to the Big Five traits.

The more an employee is emotionally stable the less the person is involved in negative
thinking and negative emotions so that person carries a higher job and life satisfaction
and also has a lower stress levels.

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 The more an employee is extravert the employee has better interpersonal skills, Greater
social dominance. And beside he/she is more emotionally expressive. So better
performance, enhanced leadership comes out from that employee.
The more an employee has openness trait the more that employee will learn about job.
Beside the employee will be more creative, flexible and autonomous. So their work
performance will be better.
The employees who has more agreeableness tend to better linked, more conforming and
compliant. So they put higher performance and lower deviant behavior.
They employees carrying higher conscientiousness puts greater effort and persistence,
they are more deviant and disciplined and they are better organized so that they perform
better.

Organization of research:
Over the decades, Rahimafrooz has grown in size, scale, and diversity. The Group today has
Eight Operating Companies (SBUs), a few other business ventures, and a not for profit social
enterprise. As of 2011, the Group currently employs more than three thousand people directly
and a further twenty thousand indirectly as suppliers contractors, dealers and retailers.
Rahimafrooz operates in four broad segments Storage Power, Automotive & Electronics,
Energy and Retail.

We have strengthened our market leadership at home while reaching out to international markets.
Ranging from automotive aftermarket products, energy and power solutions, to a world class
retail chain the team at Rahimafrooz is committed to ensuring the best in quality standards and
living the Groups five core values Integrity, Excellence, Customer Delight , Innovation and
Inspiring People.

Rahimafrooz has been a partner in the development journey of this nation for more than fifty-
five years now. We set ourselves the highest standards in responsible corporate behavior and our
passion for success is aligned with the development of the country. We are committed to playing
a leading role in driving growth, prosperity, ethical values and social responsibility. We continue

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to serve our customers through unparalleled quality excellence and service superiority. Our
business success has been complemented by our commitment to the environment, society and
community.

At Rahimafrooz, We are enriching lives with your trust!

Results
The main purpose of this study was to provide a confirmatory analysis of the relation
between the Big Five and job performance by including only scales that were explicitly designed
to measure the Big Five personality dimensions. In our overall results we found that Job
Satisfaction was found to have the highest validity of the Big Five dimensions for overall job
performance, it had a correlation of .17. It is also noteworthy that Emotional Stability shows
rather consistent (although low) levels of criterion-related validity. In addition, the separate
analyses for the different occupational categories provide a more complex picture of the
validities of the Big Five than do prior reviews, in that the dimensions beyond Conscientiousness
begin to show low but rather stable validities for certain occupations. In particular, for jobs
involving customer service, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Emotional Stability
had low levels of validity. Similarly for sales and perhaps for managerial jobs, Emotional
Stability and Extraversion had rather low but stable validities. A common theme running through
customer service, sales, and managerial jobs that differentiates them from skilled and semiskilled
jobs is the interpersonal component of performing these jobs; this probably accounts for the more
stable validities of these personality dimensions for these types of jobs. The results of
partitioning the criterion domain into task performance, job dedication, and interpersonal
facilitation shed further light on these issues. Conscientiousness predicted all three performance
dimensions equally well, and the same was found for Emotional Stability. However,
Agreeableness did emerge as a potentially valid predictor, predicting interpersonal facilitation as
strongly as did Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability. Conscientiousness, Emotional
Stability, and Agreeableness appear to have a rather stable impact on the interpersonal
facilitation criteria, suggesting that perhaps this performance dimension is influenced in a
consistent manner by certain personality traits. This is consistent with the previous suggestion
that personality may have a more stable impact on jobs that are more interpersonal in nature

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(e.g., customer service, sales, and management). The same statement may be true of job
performance dimensions that are more interpersonal in nature.
Reliability Test

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha
Based on
Cronbach's Alpha Standardized Items N of Items

.742 .761 35

Case Processing Summary

N %

Cases Valid 100 100.0

Excludeda 0 .0

Total 100 100.0

a. Listwise deletion based on all

variables in the procedure.

Cronbach's alpha is a measure of internal consistency, that is, how closely related a set of
items are as a group. A "high" value of alpha is often used (along with substantive arguments
and possibly other statistical measures) as evidence that the items measure an underlying (or
latent) construct. However, a high alpha does not imply that the measure is one-dimensional. If,
in addition to measuring internal consistency, you wish to provide evidence that the scale in
question is one-dimensional, additional analyses can be performed. Technically speaking,
Cronbach's alpha is not a statistical test - it is a coefficient of reliability (or consistency).

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 Our reliability test yielded an alpha value of 0.742. Any value above 0.7 is said to mean
that there is a strong relationship between the set of items included in the analysis. Therefore we
can conclude that there is a relatively strong relationship between the Big Five personality traits,
job satisfaction and job performance.

Descriptive Statistics (Correlation Matrix)

Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

MeanExt 100 3.2020 .56746
MeanEmo 100 3.9860 .45238
MeanAgr 100 4.0960 .50571
MeanOpn 100 4.0380 .53234
MeanCon 100 4.1660 .61237
MeanJob 100 3.7080 .76880
MeanJobP 100 3.9760 .60120

Hypothesis 1 predicts that the extroversion characteristic in an individuals personality is

positively related to job performance and enhancement in an organization. The study found in
the above table shows not so significant relationship between extroversion and job performance.
The mean of Extroversion (3.2) shows that a more than half of our participants were neutral
about this, as a result we know that the bit high (more than 50 percent) standard deviation
indicates that the data point is spread a little away from the mean. Hence, our study reflects that
there is moderately high variance among the participants regarding extroversion.

Hypothesis 2 predicts that the conscientiousness characteristic in an individuals personality is

positively related to job performance and enhancement in an organization. The study in the
above table shows moderately significant relationship between conscientiousness and job
performance. The mean of Consciousness (4.16) shows that more than half of our participants
moderately agreed to this, as a result we know that moderately high (more than 60 percent)
standard deviation indicates that the data point of spread away from the mean. Hence, our study
concludes that Conscientiousness has the second highest variance among the participants
regarding conscientiousness.

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Hypothesis 3 predicts that the agreeableness characteristic in an individuals personality is
positively related to job performance and enhancement in an organization. The study in the
above table shows higher significant relationship between agreeableness and job performance
than in between extroversion. The mean of Agreeableness (4.09) shows that exactly about half
of our participants moderately agreed to this, as a result neutral (50 percent) standard deviation
indicates that the data point is in the equilibrium position. Hence, our study concludes that
Agreeableness holds a neutral position amongst our participants regarding the variance.

Hypothesis 4 predicts that the interpersonal relationship which is also depends heavily on
emotional stability is positively related to job performance and enhancement in an organization.
The study in the above table again shows moderately high relationship between emotional
stability and job performance. The mean of Emotional Stability (3.98) showed that more than
half of our participants agreed to this. Here we see our standard deviation is less than 50 percent,
which indicates that data point is very close to the mean.

Hypothesis 5 predicts that the attitude characteristic which we also see as openness to experience
in an individuals personality is positively related to job performance and enhancement in an
organization. The study in the above table again shows significantly high relationship between
openness to experience and job performance. The mean of Openness to experience (4.38)
shows that a large number of our participants agreed to the positive relationship, as a result 53
percent standard deviation indicates that the data point is spread over a large range of values.
Hence, our study concludes that Openness to experience has a great deal of variance.

Regression Analysis

ANOVAb

Sum of
Model Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 13.951 6 2.325 9.905 .000a

Residual 21.831 93 .235

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 Total 35.782 99

a. Predictors: (Constant), MeanJob, MeanExt, MeanEmo, MeanCon, MeanOpn,

MeanAgr
b. Dependent Variable: MeanJobP

The ANOVA table shows how much of total variance is random and how much of the
variance is caused through treatment variation. As the sum of square for regression is less than
the sum of squares for residual we can state that the random variation is greater than the
treatment variation. The F value is higher than its critical value so we can conclude that the
strengths of the relationships between conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to new
experience, emotional stability, extroversion, job satisfaction and job performance are all
different.

Although these findings shed some light on the potential impact of personality variables
on dimensions of job performance, we now return to the issue of the absolute magnitudes of the
estimated true validity coefficients for these variables and the implications of these validities for
the utility of the Big Five for personnel selection. In general, our analyses suggest that the
validities of the Big Five, including Conscientiousness, tend to be low to moderate in magnitude.
One of the major implications of this analysis, then, is that stating that Job Satisfaction is a valid
predictor of job performance paints an inaccurate image of the true validity of these global Big
Five measures in an absolute sense. Conscientiousness dimension is not as impressive as one
would expect, given the recent enthusiasm surrounding its use as a predictor of job performance.
Overall, it appears that global measures of Conscientiousness can be expected to
consistently add a small portion of explained variance in job performance across jobs and across
criterion dimensions. In addition, for certain jobs and for certain criterion dimensions, certain
other Big Five dimensions will likely add a very small but consistent degree of explained
variance. If the global Big Five measure is uncorrelated with the other predictors that are
currently used.(e.g., personality tends to be uncorrelated with cognitive ability; then even this
small incremental explained variance can, under certain circumstances, make a practically
significant contribution to predictive efficiency for a job and perhaps contribute to a reduction in

16
adverse impact (Murphy & Shiarella, 1997 also raise the question of whether this small addition
of explained variance should be interpreted as enthusiastically as it recently has been). Thus,
although the low to moderate validity coefficient for Job Satisfaction tends to generalize quite
well across occupations and job performance criteria and although other Big Five dimensions
appear to have meaningful relations with certain criteria or for certain jobs, we do not see
evidence that Job Satisfaction or any of the other Big Five dimensions should be granted a status
similar to that of general cognitive ability for personnel selection purposes. In terms of theory
rather than practice, however, we do interpret our findings as indicating a pattern of theoretically
meaningful relations between the broad personality dimensions and job performance that should
be explored in future research, perhaps using facet scales of the Big Five dimensions. Although
the strength of the relations are low to moderate, different personality dimensions appear to
affect performance in different types of jobs or along different dimensions. In a relative sense,
the Conscientiousness dimension does appear to have the strongest relation to overall job
performance. People, who describe themselves as hard-working, reliable, organized, and so on
do appear to perform somewhat better than do those who believe they are less strong in these
characteristics. It is also interesting that Emotional Stability showed a rather stable influence on
performance throughout nearly all of our analyses. It appears that being calm, secure, well-
adjusted, and low in anxiety has a small but consistent impact on job performance.
Agreeableness also gains importance for those jobs that require interpersonal interactions,
so that being likeable, cooperative, and good-natured has a small but consistent impact on
performance. Finally, being Extraverted appears to influence sales and perhaps managerial jobs,
and Openness to Experience appears to affect performance in customer service jobs. Although
these theoretically meaningful relations are rather low in magnitude at the broad dimension level
of the Big Five, the magnitude of these correlations might be enhanced if the most relevant
specific facets of these broad dimensions could be specified. We suggest, then, that the Big Five
framework and the patterns of small to moderate validities for these broad dimensions that have
begun to emerge should be used in future research to help guide the selection back "downward"
toward somewhat narrower personality facets with theoretical links to the performance
dimensions under investigation. If a broad, global performance criterion is of interest, perhaps a
global Job Satisfaction scale will suffice with a moderate level of validity. However, if multiple
performance dimensions such as those distinguishing task performance from contextual

17
performance, or perhaps those consistent with other typologies such as that presented by
Campbell (1990), will be delineated, then perhaps narrower facets of performance with strong
theoretical links to those criteria can be identified and used individually or in combination to
enhance their criterion-related validity. We also note that the formation of optimal composites
may involve grouping facets from across the five broad dimensions. For example, combining
selected facets of Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness may optimize the
prediction of an interpersonal facilitation criterion. The circumflex models of the Big Five
presented by Hofstee, de Raad, and Goldberg (1992) and Johnson and Ostendorf (1993) could
also prove useful in this regard by guiding the formation of predictor scales that simultaneously
represent aspects of two dimensions, in a sense falling between two of the broader dimensions.
This is a hypothesis that deserves consideration in future research. In addition to further
exploration of more specific links between dimensions of personality and job performance,
research that more completely delineates the nomological network connecting personality to job
performance is needed. Much of the research to date has taken a very practical perspective,
focusing on the bivariate correlation between personality and performance. However, if we are to
truly understand the relationship between personality and job performance, we must move
beyond this bivariate relationship and toward specifying the intervening variables that link these
domains. The Conscientiousness trait, for example, is often discussed in a manner that assumes it
has motivational implications. Motivational variables, then, should be examined more
extensively as intervening variables in a multivariate model. Some research has, in fact, found
Conscientiousness to influence performance through its effects on such motivational variables as
performance expectancies, self-efficacy, and goal setting. Better explication of this nomological
network for different conceptualizations of the personality domain (e.g., narrower facets or Big
Five dimensions other than Conscientiousness) and for different dimensions of job performance
may aid in a better understanding of how personality affects job performance. With better
identification of intervening variables, the total effects of personality on job performance may
emerge more strongly than the simple bivariate correlation coefficient has demonstrated. Finally,
for the sake of understanding the impact of personality on job performance, it would also be
interesting to explore these relations using alternative measurement methods. Mount, Barrick,
and Strauss (1994), for example, presented some evidence that supervisor, coworker, and
customer ratings of personality consistently had equivalent or higher levels of criterion-related

18
validity in comparison with employees' self-reports. Although the practice of using rating
sources other than oneself is not likely to be adopted in personnel selection practice, such
alternative measurement methods could help gain a better understanding of the aspects of
personality that affect performance.

Discussion

Each of the models described above either ascribes peripheral roles to personality
variables in explaining job performance ratings or targets specific traits, leaving unspecified the
mechanisms by which personality traits are linked to performance. Such approaches are valuable,
but it bears consideration that personality may play a more central role and afford greater yields
with clarification of general processes. Along those lines, R. Hogan and offered a socio-analytic
view of traitperformance relationships. Unlike earlier models, theirs focuses exclusively on
personality as a direct rather than mediated predictor. The featured elements of this perspective
are that (a) people are motivated to get along with others and to get ahead, (b) personality viewed
by the self (i.e., identity; from the inside) is to be distinguished from personality viewed by
others (i.e., reputation; from the outside), (c) the effect of specific personality dimensions on
performance is moderated by social skills, and (d) performance appraisal is identified as playing
a key role. In short, the rater (supervisor, subordinate, peer) evaluates the ratees performance
given the rewardness of past encounters. Ratees who meet the raters needs, through a
combination of motives and social skills, receive favorable evaluations. The proposed model,
like those described above, is intended to clarify the role of personality in understanding and
predicting job performance. It is distinct, however, in two important respects. First, it explicitly
focuses on situations as moderators of personality trait expression and in evaluation of those
expressions as job performance. In doing so, it is unique in offering direct and testable
explanations of bi-directionality and situational specificity of personalityjob performance
relations, described above. Second, the proposed model is unique by identifying general
mechanisms by which any personality trait can be expected to be linked to job performance. As
such, it offers a unifying framework for further study of personality traits in practical as well as
theoretical pursuits. The conceptual core of the model is the interactionist process by which
personality traits are expressed, considered here as trait activation.

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Conclusions

In summary, the analysis provides a review of the criterion-related validities of the Big
Five personality dimensions, as measured by scales that were developed explicitly according to
the five-factor model. Although we have interpreted this evidence of the criterion-related validity
of Conscientiousness somewhat less optimistically than many researchers have tended to do in
recent years, we nevertheless suggest that the potential exists for improving the validity of
personality predictors. We encourage future research aimed at theory-based matching of
personality constructs and dimensions of job performance, perhaps using composites of narrower
Big Five facets. We also encourage research aimed at building a more extensive multivariate
model of the personality-job performance relation. We conclude that global measures of the Job
Satisfaction dimension have a rather moderate impact on performance, although this validity
does appear rather stable and generalizable across occupations and criteria. Although they are
less generalizable, we also conclude that personality traits other than Job Satisfaction
are nearly equally important for certain occupations and criteria. Our hope is that the results of
this review encourage realistic expectations about the potential contribution of Job Satisfaction
measures to selection utility and encourage further exploration of the impact of personality
variables on job performance beyond the global Job Satisfaction dimension.
Several potentially important issues were side-stepped in writing this article. Among
those calling for more detailed consideration are (a) further development of strategies for
measuring key variables (e.g., trait-relevant demands, distracters, etc.); (b) implications of the
distinction between objective and subjective situations that is, between the alpha and beta
press (c) trait-related cognitive mechanisms and skills mediating situation perception and
performance judgment (e.g., cognitive style; sensitivity to and threshold for trait-relevant cues);
(d) implications of mediators like habits, skills, and knowledge (e) the possibility of interactions
among traits and between traits and other variables (f) specificity in predictor and criterion
domains with respect to unique variance, diagnosticity, and the bandwidth-fidelity trade-off;
(g) the possibility of curvilinear relations prompting consideration of trait level optimality; (h)
long-term reciprocal effects between traits and situations (i) implications regarding the
conceptualization and prediction of counterproductive work behavior from a personality
perspective and finally, (j) legal issues bearing on the use of non-task related demands as bases

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for personnel decisions. Careful thinking and research in these areas and in those outlined
throughout the article promise to shed much needed light on the role of personality in the
workplace and the processes by which individuals interact with their work environments.

References:
Murphy, K. R., & Shiarella, A. H. (1997). Implications of the multidimensional nature of job
performance for the validity of selection tests: Multivariate frameworks for studying test
validity. Personnel Psychology, 50,823-854.

Hanisch, K. A., Hulin, C. L., & Roznowski, M. (1998). The importance of individuals'
repertoires of behaviors: The scientific appropriateness of studying multiple behaviors and
general attitudes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 463-480.

Campbell, J. P. (1990a). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and

organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial
and Organizational Psychology (2nd Ed., Vol. 1, pp. 687-732). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting
Psychologists Press.

Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job
performance:A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 126.

Hofstee, W. K. B., De Raad, B., & Goldberg, L. R. (1992). Integration of the Big Five and
circumflex approaches to trait structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 146-
163.

John, O. P., & Robins, R. W. (1993). Determinants of interjudge agreement on personality traits:
The Big Five domains, observability, evaluativeness, and the unique perspective of the self.
Journal of Personality, 61, 521-551.

Mount, M. K., Barrick, M. R., & Strauss, J. P. (1994). Validity of observer ratings of the Big
Five personality factors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 272-280.

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Monson, T. C., Hesley, J. W., & Chernick, L. (1982). Specifying whenpersonality traits can and
cannot predict behavior: An alternative to abandoning the attempt to predict single-act criteria.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 385399.

Robertson, I. T., Baron, H., Gibbons, P., MacIver, R., & Nyfield, G.(2000). Conscientiousness
and managerial performance. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 73, 171
180.

Salgado, J. F. (1997). The five factor model of personality and job performance in the European
community. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 3043.

Snyder, M., & Ickes, W. (1985). Personality and social behavior. In G.Lindzey & E. Aronson
(Eds.), The handbook of social psychology(Vol. 2, pp. 883947). New York: Random House.

D. N. (1992). The dimensionality of Type A behavior within a stressful work simulation. Journal
of Personality, 60, 533551.

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 Questionnaire

Dear Respondent:
We are the BBA students of North South University doing a survey for the partial fulfillment of
Organizational Behavior course that involves the effect of personality traits on performance in your
organization. It will take a few minutes of your time. Your response would be of great help to
accomplishing the study. However, this information is only for academic purpose and will not be
disclosed elsewhere. We appreciate your cooperation.
Background Information:
Company/Firm: Position: Education Level:
Tenure of job: Gender: Age:

For the following questions, please tick () your answer according to the degree of your agreement.
[1= highly disagree; 2 = moderately disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = moderately agree; 5 = highly agree]
Part-A: Extroversion
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. When a co-worker falls sick, I go to his home to check whether he is alright.
2. It is sometimes okay for me and co-workers to talk about personal matters.
3. Constant sound from my fellow co-workers disturbs my work.
4. Whatever job my superior asks me to do, I do it pretty well.
5. I like to receive help from my colleagues in any project I am assigned.
Part-B: Emotional Stability
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. My household increase stress level so the concentration in my work becomes
less.
2. Suddenly if a great problem comes up in my work I dont become nervous and
try to solve the problem in a calm way.
3. I always rely on my own decisions in work related problems and dont consult
my superiors for every little problem.
4. When a difficult task is assigned to me or I am asked to meet new people I dont
get nervous.
5. If a work is not up to the mark and I get criticism from my boss I try to address
the problem and work on not to repeat it.
Part-C: Agreeableness
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. When one of my co-workers is in a problem and asks for my help, I try to help
him out immediately.

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2.When my supervisors ask me for some volunteer overtime I happily agree with it
3. I am loyal to my company and am not influenced by any monetary or other gift
items to give out important company information.
4. Even though I personally hate my supervisor sometimes, I dont let that affect
my work.
5. If I am treated in a unfair manner, I would stand out and explain my position,
instead of giving a harsh reaction.
Part-D: Openness to experience
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. I am open to new situations and am always looking for new information and
learning opportunities.
2. I am enjoying the diversified characteristics of my co-workers in the workplace.
3.I can make proper decisions in situations where there is lack of information and
the result is not clear
4. Whenever I find or discover some interesting new concepts of management I try
to apply it in my job area.
5. I like to use my imagination and intuition to help me in my decision making
process.
Part-E: Conscientiousness
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. Whenever I am asked to start a task, I start the job right away and complete it
before the deadline.
2. I keep my belongings and accessories in an orderly manner and want to see my
subordinates organized too.
3. My supervisor trusts me and assigns me authority to make certain decisions.
4. My superior is mostly satisfied with my performance and so I was promoted to
this position.
5. I dont make decisions being influenced by others ; rather I concentrate on my
own intuition and judgment.
Part-F: Job Satisfaction
Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. My job perfectly measures my efficiency.
2. The degree I got from university is totally related with my job and I can work
efficiently without earning another degree such as MBA.
3. The salary I receive is exactly what I deserve compared to my performance
level.
4. I work on a favorable environment and like the work I do.
5. I enjoy a significant amount of fringe benefits such as paid leaves,
transportation, etc, in addition to my salary.
Part-G: Job Performance

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 Statement 1 2 3 4 5
1. My supervisors and my peers make very few complaints about me.
2. I was promoted to a higher position persistently in the last few years.
3. My supervisor often appreciates and praises my job performance.
4. My supervisor believes in my performance and assigns me important job
readily.
5. I usually complete my work before time and try to help others in their duty.
*Any other opinions/suggestions/recommendations that you have or that has not been covered yet:

**Please provide your visiting card with this questionnaire**

Thanks For Your Cooperation

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