Would you like fries with that? The roles of servers’ personality traits and job performance in the tipping behavior of customers

The present study attempted to expand what is known about how the personality traits of servers are associated with their job performance ratings and the tips they receive from customers. Personality traits were measured in 259 restaurant servers who were evaluated by their actual customers. Conscientiousness was associated with the average job performance ratings of servers. Extraversion was found to moderate the association that job performance had with the tips that servers received such that tipping behavior was associated with job performance for servers with high levels of extraversion but this association did not emerge for servers with low levels of extraversion. These findings are discussed in the context of understanding the connection between personality traits and job-related outcomes.     

Five-factor personality domains and job performance: A second order meta-analysis

Several meta-analyses have investigated the job-related validities of the traits associated with the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The presence of second-order sampling error, however, might complicate the interpretation of these meta-analyses (i.e., random error across different meta-analyses). The current paper therefore evaluates variability across different meta-analyses and tests for key moderators (i.e., performance criteria, sources of ratings, and context). Results suggested that the variation in the predictive validity of several FFM traits and facets across multiple performance criteria was attributable to second-order sampling error. However, true variation existed for some moderators such as sources of personality information (self-reports versus informant reports). The current analyses therefore enhance knowledge about the usefulness and generalizability of personality traits in work contexts.     

Validity of observer ratings of the five-factor model of personality traits: a meta-analysis

Conclusions reached in previous research about the magnitude and nature of personality-performance linkages have been based almost exclusively on self-report measures of personality. The purpose of this study is to address this void in the literature by conducting a meta-analysis of the relationship between observer ratings of the five-factor model (FFM) personality traits and overall job performance. Our results show that the operational validities of FFM traits based on observer ratings are higher than those based on self-report ratings. In addition, the results show that when based on observer ratings, all FFM traits are significant predictors of overall performance. Further, observer ratings of FFM traits show meaningful incremental validity over self-reports of corresponding FFM traits in predicting overall performance, but the reverse is not true. We conclude that the validity of FFM traits in predicting overall performance is higher than previously believed, and our results underscore the importance of disentangling the validity of personality traits from the method of measurement of the traits.     

Born to burnout: A meta-analytic path model of personality, job burnout, and work outcomes

We quantitatively summarized the relationship between Five-Factor Model personality traits, job burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), and absenteeism, turnover, and job performance. All five of the Five-Factor Model personality traits had multiple true score correlations of .57 with emotional exhaustion, .46 with depersonalization, and .52 with personal accomplishment. Also, all three dimensions of job burnout had multiple correlations of .23 with absenteeism, .33 with turnover, and .36 with job performance. Meta-analytic path modeling indicated that the sequential ordering of job burnout dimensions was contingent on the focal outcome, supporting three different models of the burnout process. Finally, job burnout partially mediated the relationships between Five-Factor Model personality traits and turnover and job performance while fully mediating the relationships with absenteeism.     

Do personality factors predict job satisfaction?

Two studies investigated the relationships between personality traits and aspects of job satisfaction. In Study 1, job applicants (n=250) completed the Eysenck Personality Profiler and the Work Values Questionnaire (WVQ), which requires respondents to rate various work-related facets according to the extent to which they contribute to their job satisfaction. These facets were combined into two composites (hygiene and motivator) based on previous research. The three personality superfactors accounted for a small percentage of the variance in importance ratings (about 5%). In Study 2, employees (n=82) completed a measure of the ‘Big Five’ personality traits and the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (JSQ), which assesses both what respondents consider as important in their work environment as well as their satisfaction with their current job. Importance ratings were again combined into two composites while job satisfaction ratings were factor analyzed and three factors, differentiated along hygiene versus motivator lines, emerged. Personality traits again accounted for a small percentage of the total variance both in importance ratings and in levels of job satisfaction. It is concluded that personality does not have a strong or consistent influence either on what individuals perceive as important in their work environment or on their levels of job satisfaction.     

Rose colored webcam: Discrepancies in personality estimates and interview performance ratings

Companies increasingly use computer-controlled interviews as a less expensive and more efficient way to screen job applicants. Despite these advantages, this interview format may prevent evaluators from accurately judging an applicant’s personality traits, which, in turn, may influence hiring decisions. Two traits in particular, agreeableness and conscientiousness, have been found to predict performance in many occupational settings. In the current research, participants randomly were assigned to either a face-to-face (FTF) or computer-controlled (CC) mock job interview. Interviewees were rated by external observers as higher in conscientiousness and agreeableness when the interview was CC rather than FTF. In addition, observers rated interview performance more positively than did the interviewees themselves – particularly when the interview was CC. Finally, the discrepancy between self and observer judgments of the interviewees’ personality (in terms of agreeableness and conscientiousness) mediated the relation between interview format and the discrepancy between self and observer ratings of interview performance. These findings suggest that CC interviews have the potential to yield overly positive evaluations of interviewees, thereby biasing personality judgments and estimations of ultimate job performance.     

The Employment Interview via the Telephone: Are We Sacrificing Accurate Personality Judgments for Cost Efficiency?

The goal of the study was to determine whether impoverished personality judgments of job candidates would be yielded by interviewers who conduct telephone interviews in comparison to face-to-face interviews due to the telephone interviews' inherent lack of crucial nonverbal communication. Participants in this study conducted mock job interviews using either the face-to-face format or the telephone format, while their behavior was coded by independent raters. For each participant, self-ratings of job-related personality traits were obtained from the applicant, while ratings of the applicant's personality were obtained from the interviewer and a peer of the applicant. It was found that the average self-interviewer and peer-interviewer agreement correlations, which were used as the criteria for accuracy, were significantly greater when the interviewer implemented the face-to-face interview method, thus supporting the hypothesis. An item analysis further supported the hypothesis in that face-to-face interviewers were found to rate the candidates significantly higher/more favorably on those traits that are typically conveyed via nonverbal communication.     

Predictive Criterion-Related Validity of Observer Ratings of Personality and Job-Related Competencies Using Multiple Raters and Multiple Performance Criteria

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive validity of observer ratings of personality and job-related competencies in a selection setting. Based on ratings from multiple raters of both the predictors and the criteria in a sample of MBA students, results indicated that observer ratings of Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, leadership, and interpersonal skills predicted work performance, team performance, and academic performance. For work performance and team performance, a composite of the four predictors had incremental predictive validity over general mental ability, even after controlling for how well the rater knew the ratee.     

Social Networking Websites,Personality Ratings,and the Organizational Context: More Than Meets the Eye?1

We examined the psychometric properties of the Big Five personality traits assessed through social networking profiles in 2 studies consisting of 274 and 244 social networking website (SNW) users. First, SNW ratings demonstrated sufficient interrater reliability and internal consistency. Second, ratings via SNWs demonstrated convergent validity with self‐ratings of the Big Five traits. Third, SNW ratings correlated with job performance, hirability, and academic performance criteria; and the magnitude of these correlations was generally larger than for self‐ratings. Finally, SNW ratings accounted for significant variance in the criterion measures beyond self‐ratings of personality and cognitive ability. We suggest that SNWs may provide useful information for potential use in organizational research and practice, taking into consideration various legal and ethical issues.     

Job-Related Well-Being Through the Great Recession

We study how job-related well-being (measured by Warr’s ‘Enthusiasm’ and ‘Contentment’ scales) altered through the Great Recession, and how this is related to changing job quality. Using nationally representative data for Britain, we find that job-related well-being was stable between 2001 and 2006, but then declined between 2006 and 2012. We report relevant changes in job quality. In modelling the determinants of job-related well-being, we confirm several previously-studied hypotheses and present some new findings: downsizing, work re-organisation, decreased choice, and linking pay to organisational performance each reduce well-being; indicators of skills challenge in jobs have more of a positive association with Enthusiasm than with Contentment, while effort has a more negative association with Contentment than with Enthusiasm. Our estimates are largely orthogonal to the effects of personality traits and demographic controls on well-being. Using a standard decomposition, we find that the 2006–2012 fall in job-related well-being is partly accounted for by accelerations in the pace of workplace change, rising job insecurity, increased effort and changing participation.     

SELF-MONITORING AS A MODERATOR OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND PERFORMANCE

This study examined the hypothesis that self-monitoring moderates the relationship between Big Five personality traits and interpersonal performance. The findings from a sample of 102 employed Executive MBA students reveal that when self-monitoring was high the relationships between 3 of the Big Five personality traits (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience) and supervisory ratings of interpersonal performance were attenuated. These effects were replicated using peer ratings of interpersonal performance for Extraversion and Emotional Stability but not for Openness to Experience. Further, as expected, self-monitoring did not moderate the relationships between personality traits and supervisory or peer ratings of task performance. Implications for future research in the area of personality and other motivational theories are discussed.     

The accuracy of roommate ratings of behaviors versus beliefs

We evaluated the accuracy of peer ratings of roommates’ personality characteristics, against roommate self-ratings, as a function of rating domain observability. Instead of the usual ratings of broad personality traits, however, our domains represented peer ratings of narrow exemplars of personality traits. Specifically, we compared roommate ratings on (a) observable trait-related behaviors with (b) unobservable trait-related attitudes or beliefs. We observed greater self-peer agreement in rating behaviors, in general, than in rating beliefs. We also observed greater tendency of raters to adopt an assumed similarity heuristic when judging their roommates’ attitudes and beliefs than their behaviors. We discuss the contribution of these findings to understanding the determinants of accuracy in personality judgments and developing best practices for personality assessment.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Personality and the Prediction of Job Performance: More Than the Big Five

The effects of motivated distortion on forced-choice (FC) and normative inventories were examined in three studies. Study 1 examined the effects of distortion on the construct validity of the two item formats in terms of convergent and discriminant validity. The results showed that both types of measures were susceptible to motivated distortion, however the FC items were better indicators of personality and less related to socially desirable responding when participants were asked to respond as if applying for a job. Study 2 considered the criterion-related validity of the inventories in terms of predicting supervisors' ratings of job performance, finding that distortion had a more deleterious effect on the validity of the normative inventory with some enhancement of the validity of the FC inventory being observed. Study 3 investigated whether additional constructs are introduced into the measurement process when motivated respondents attempt to increase scores on FC items. Results of Study 3 indicated that individuals higher in cognitive ability tend to have more accurate theories about which traits are job-related and therefore are more successful at improving scores on FC inventories. Implications for using personality inventories in personnel selection are discussed.     

特质模糊性对大学生人格判断准确性的影响

该研究从大学生样本中抽取19名目标被试、57名熟人被试和76名陌生人被试,采用词汇评定方法考察了特质模糊性对人格判断准确性的影响,结果表明：（1）自我、熟人及陌生人对清晰特质判断的一致性比模糊特质的一致性更高,这种差异在自我—陌生人及熟人—陌生人一致性中尤为显著;（2）无论是模糊特质还是清晰特质,自我—熟人判断一致性显著高于自我—陌生人和熟人—陌生人一致性,后两者差异不明显;（3）随着特质模糊性的增加,被试判断间一致性差异总体上呈不断增大的趋势,清晰特质判断一致性的差异较小,模糊特质判断一致性的差异较大。     

Personality Correlates of Assessment Center Consensus Competency Ratings: Evidence from Russia

Controversy has revolved around whether assessment center ratings have construct validity to measure intended dimensions of managerial performance. In contrast to much recent research on the internal structure of assessment center ratings, the present studies investigated the relationship of final competency ratings derived by consensus discussion with external questionnaire measures of personality characteristics. Expanding on previous studies showing correlations of dimension scores in relation to individual trait measures, this study investigated the relationship of complex competencies with both single personality traits and with composites of personality traits. Evidence from two samples of managers in Russia shows that final competency ratings are related to predicted composites of personality factors more consistently than to single factors. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that assessment center ratings derived by consensus discussion show construct validity in relationship with predicted composites of personality characteristics.     

Personality and job performance: test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives

Research shows consistent relations between personality and job performance. In this study the authors develop and test a model of job performance that examines the mediating effects of cognitive-motivational work orientations on the relationships between personality traits and performance in a sales job (N = 164). Covariance structural analyses revealed proximal motivational variables to be influential mechanisms through which distal personality traits affect job performance. Specifically, striving for status and accomplishment mediate the effects of Extraversion and Conscientiousness on ratings of sales performance. Although Agreeableness was related to striving for communion, neither Agreeableness nor communion striving was related to success in this sales job. The importance of the proposed motivational orientations model is discussed.     

Can Nonverbal Cues be Used to Make Meaningful Personality Attributions in Employment Interviews?

Purpose  This study examines the role of personality attributions in understanding the relationships between nonverbal cues and interview performance ratings. Design/methodology/approach  A structured behavioral interview was developed for identifying management potential in a large, national company. Using a concurrent design to validate the interview, managers were interviewed and the interviews were videotaped (n = 110). These videotapes were used as stimuli for raters in this study. Findings  Results indicate that raters can make personality attributions using only one channel of information and these attributions partly explain the relationships between nonverbal cues and performance measures. Furthermore, conscientiousness attributions explain the relationship between visual cues and interview ratings, extraversion attributions mediate the relationship between vocal cues and interview ratings. Neuroticism attributions had a suppressing effect for both visual and vocal cues. Implications   No matter how much an interview is structured, nonverbal cues cause interviewers to make attributions about candidates. If we face this fact, rather than consider information from cues as bias that should be ignored, interviewers can do a better job of focusing on job-related behavior and information in the interview, while realizing that the cues are providing information that must be attended to. Originality/value  This study isolated the sources of information provided to raters to either the vocal or the visual channel to examine their impact individually. A Brunswik lens model shows the potential impact of personality attributions predicting both job and interview performance ratings when both channels of information are used.     

Is the job satisfaction-job performance relationship spurious? A meta-analytic examination

The job satisfaction-job performance relationship has attracted much attention throughout the history of industrial and organizational psychology. Many researchers and most lay people believe that a causal relationship exists between satisfaction and performance. In the current study, however, analyses using meta-analytic data suggested that the satisfaction-performance relationship is largely spurious. More specifically, the satisfaction-performance relationship was partially eliminated after controlling for either general personality traits (e.g., Five Factor Model traits and core self-evaluations) or for work locus of control and was almost completely eliminated after controlling for organization-based self-esteem. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Inter-individual differences in intra-individual variability in personality within and across contexts

This study focuses on intra-individual variability in personality at work, and how it relates to job performance. 288 professionals completed contextualised adjective-based personality assessments in work and non-work contexts, and a non-contextualised personality measure. Ratings of their personality were also obtained from colleagues, family members and friends. Supervisors provided performance ratings for 130 participants. Results indicate that personality is context- and source-dependent, and varies systematically within contexts intra-individually regardless of source. Whilst this variability was predictive of some performance criteria when based on other-ratings, overall predictive effects were small in number and size. This study adds to the relatively small body of research on personality variability and performance and contributes to the conceptualisation of personality as a dynamic construct.     

ACCURACY OF INTERVIEWER JUDGMENTS OF JOB APPLICANT PERSONALITY TRAITS

This study investigated whether interviewers can assess Big Five personality traits during a job interview. Four raters (self, interviewer, friend, and stranger) assessed the applicant's personality. Results from ratings for 73 applicants demonstrated that interviewer ratings of applicant personality correlate higher with self-ratings ( = .28) than do stranger ratings ( = .09) but less than ratings from close friends ( = .39). However, correlations between interviewer ratings and self-ratings were smaller for the two job-relevant personality traits, Conscientiousness ( = .16, n.s.) and Emotional Stability ( = .17, n.s.) than for the other three personality traits. Variance in ratings suggested the applicants managed their self-presentation on these two traits during the interview. Thus, although interviewers can and do assess personality during the interview, they are not able to assess those traits that would best predict later job success. Finally, the moderating effect of interview design (i.e., structure and content) was assessed. The results revealed that job-relevant interviews, situational interviews, and behavioral interviews did not affect an interviewer's ability to assess personality. Although there was a small (positive) effect for more structured interviews, this affect was modest. The results of this study suggest that future research should examine whether the interview can be designed to assess personality directly, and what the gains to predictive validity are by doing so.