Personality and Trust Fosters Service Quality

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which cognitive and affective trust mediate the service provider personality?Cservice quality relationship, controlling for customer personality.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Hypotheses were tested using a matched sample of 249 customer-service provider dyads.

Results

Service provider service orientation incrementally predicted customer cognitive trust in the service provider above and beyond customer agreeableness, which related significantly to affective and cognitive trust. Analyses further revealed that cognitive trust mediated the service provider service orientation?Cservice quality relationship.

Implications

Hiring service-oriented front-line employees may facilitate customer cognitive trust which in turn relates to service quality. In addition, training front-line employees to identify agreeable customers may facilitate the quick development of trusting relationships.

Originality/Value

This is the first study to simultaneously examine the impact of both the customer and the service provider personalities on customer trust and service quality in long-term relationships. Results demonstrated the role of cognitive trust as a mediator of the relationship between service orientation and service quality.     

Expecting the Worst: Moderating Effects of Social Cynicism on the Relationships Between Relationship Conflict and Negative Affective Reactions

Purpose  

Social cynicism, defined as negative beliefs about people and social institutions, shows negative impact on people’s affective reactions. We extended this line of work by testing the moderating effects of social cynicism on the relationships between relationship conflict and its affective consequences.     

Dispositional Approach to Customer Satisfaction and Behavior

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between affective dispositions, positive and negative affectivity, and consumer attitudes and behaviors.     

Examining the Relationships Between Personality,Coping Strategies,and Work–Family Conflict

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine the processes through which personality characteristics may influence work–family conflict (WFC). Specifically, the mediating effects of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) behavioral stress-coping strategies on the relationship between personality characteristics and WFC were tested.     

Dispositional Antecedents of Demonstration and Usefulness of Voice Behavior

Purpose  

To examine the relationship between Five-Factor Model (FFM) and non-FFM personality traits that are theoretically relevant to voice behavior and the demonstration and usefulness of voice behavior.     

Rater Personality and Performance Dimension Weighting in Making Overall Performance Judgments

Purpose  

The present study examined the effects of rater personality on the performance appraisal process. Specifically, we determined the relative weights that raters place on different performance dimensions when making overall performance evaluations, and examined whether rater personality influenced this weighting process. The literatures on social/political values and mate/friend selection were used as guiding frameworks in developing specific hypotheses.     

The Moderating Effect of Personality on Employees’ Reactions to Procedural Fairness and Outcome Favorability

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine how personality moderates the interactive effect of procedural fairness perceptions and outcome favorability on employees’ job attitudes.     

Testing Differential Mediation Effects of Sub-dimensions of Political Skills in Linking Proactive Personality to Employee Performance

Purpose  

The purpose of this research was to examine the mediating roles of political skill dimensions (i.e., networking ability, interpersonal influence, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity) in linking employees’ proactive personality and supervisor-rated in-role performance and altruism.     

The Influence of Psychological Contract Breach on Temporary Workers’ Commitment and Behaviors: A Multiple Agency Perspective

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of psychological contract breach on the commitment and behaviors of temporary workers engaged in a multiple agency relationship. Specifically, it aimed to measure the influence of contract breach by the employing agency and the client organization on temporary workers’ trust and affective commitment to the respective party, and on their adoption of discretionary behaviors at the client site.     

Who Earns More and Why? A Multiple Mediation Model from Personality to Salary

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to investigate multiple indirect Big Five personality influences on professionals’ annual salary while considering relevant mediators. These are the motivational variables of occupational self-efficacy and career-advancement goals, and the work status variable of contractual work hours. The motivational and work status variables were conceptualized as serial mediators (Big Five → occupational self-efficacy/career-advancement goals → contractual work hours → annual salary).     

Applicant Personality and Procedural Justice Perceptions of Group Selection Interviews

Purpose

We investigated how job applicants’ personalities influence perceptions of the structural and social procedural justice of group selection interviews (i.e., a group of several applicants being evaluated simultaneously). We especially addressed trait interactions between neuroticism and extraversion (the affective plane) and extraversion and agreeableness (the interpersonal plane).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data on personality (pre-interview) and justice perceptions (post-interview) were collected in a field study among job applicants (N = 97) attending group selection interviews for positions as teachers in a Norwegian high school.

Findings

Interaction effects in hierarchical regression analyses showed that perceptions of social and structural justice increased with levels of extraversion among high scorers on neuroticism. Among emotionally stable applicants, however, being introverted or extraverted did not matter to justice perceptions. Extraversion did not impact on the perception of social justice for applicants low in agreeableness. Agreeable applicants, however, experienced the group interview as more socially fair when they were also extraverted.

Implications

The impact of applicant personality on justice perceptions may be underestimated if traits interactions are not considered. Procedural fairness ratings for the group selection interview were high, contrary to the negative reactions predicted by other researchers. There was no indication that applicants with desirable traits (i.e., traits predictive of job performance) reacted negatively to this selection tool.

Originality/Value

Despite the widespread use of interviews in selection, previous studies of applicant personality and fairness reactions have not included interviews. The study demonstrates the importance of previously ignored trait interactions in understanding applicant reactions.

     

Five-factor model of personality and organizational commitment: The mediating role of positive and negative affective states

Using a one-year longitudinal study of four components of organizational commitment (affective, normative, continuance–sacrifices, and continuance–alternatives) on a sample of employees from multiple organizations (N = 220), we examined the relationships of employee Big-Five personality traits to employee commitment components, and the mediating role of positive and negative affective states. Personality was measured at Time 1 while affective states and commitment components were measured at Time 2, while controlling for Time 1 commitment. Extraversion and agreeableness were positively related to affective, normative, and continuance–sacrifices commitments via enhanced positive affect. Agreeableness was also positively linked to affective commitment and negatively associated with continuance–alternatives commitment through reduced negative affect. Finally, neuroticism was negatively linked to affective commitment, and positively related to continuance–alternatives commitment, through increased negative affect. The implications of these findings for our understanding of personality–commitment linkages are discussed.     

Distinguishing between authenticity and personality consistency in predicting well-being: A mixed method approach

Introduction

The relationship between role personality consistency and well-being is somewhat ambiguous, with past research relying on methods confounded by social desirability or role stereotypes, or conflating consistency with authenticity.

Psychological Contracts and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: Employee Responses to Transactional and Relational Breach

Purpose  

This study extends the research on counterproductive work behavior (CWB) by examining the psychological contract breaches that trigger employee CWB. Specifically, we explored the relationship between transactional and relational contract breach and five forms of CWB (abuse, production deviance, sabotage, theft, and withdrawal). Further, we considered the role of situational and individual factors that mitigate CWB engagement and examined the moderating effects of organizational policies meant to deter CWB and personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability).     

Effects of Applicant Personality on Resume Evaluations

Purpose

This study examined the extent that personality information in resumes impacts hiring judgments through applicant’s resumes. Study 1 examined lay theories regarding relationships between resume cues and the applicant’s personality and hireability. Study 2 examined how the applicant’s personality impacted hiring judgments through resumes.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data for both studies were collected in the context of a managerial position. For Study 1, participants assessed resume cues in regards to their relationship with personality and hireability. For Study 2, Human Resource personnel evaluated each resume in regards to personality and hireability.

Findings

Results for Study 1 highlight several connections between applicants’ personality and resumes, with strong links between resume content and perceptions of conscientiousness and agreeableness. Results for Study 2 indicate that personality was largely unrelated to ratings of hireability but perceptions of personality were strongly linked to hireability; actual personality was linked to the variability in cue information related to hireability, and conscientiousness was indirectly related to hireability through judgments of conscientiousness.

Implications

Results from these studies suggest that personality and perceptions of personality play a greater role in resume development and screening than has been previously suggested. The pattern of results reported suggest that there are a number of resumes cues that accurately reflect an applicant’s personality and influence perceptions of hireability.

Originality/Value

By taking an exploratory approach, the current studies were able to explore a large variety of cues linked to personality and ratings of hireability. Results have implications for both applicants and HR personnel evaluating resumes.     

The Relationship Between Personality and Subjective Well-Being: Different Association Patterns When Measuring the Affective Component in Frequency and Intensity

The aim was to determine whether the relationship between personality traits and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) differs when the affective component of SWB is measured in terms of frequency or intensity. Extraversion and Neuroticism were expected to show significant but different associations to SWB depending on the dimension of the affective component. Swedish undergraduate students (N = 153) self-reported personality, life satisfaction (LS), and affect measured in both frequency (i.e., how often they feel certain affects) and intensity (i.e., how strongly they feel certain affects). Two types of SWB-scores were constructed by merging LS with affect measured in either frequency or intensity. While Extraversion had a similar effect on both types of SWB, Neuroticism had a significantly stronger effect on SWB when the affective component was measured in frequency. More importantly, the effect of Neuroticism, compared to Extraversion, was stronger on SWB regardless of the dimension of the affective component. These findings suggest that future research should clearly distinguish between intensity and frequency when measuring the affective component of SWB. The distinction is important, not only due to the distinctiveness of the affective dimensions per se, but also due to different association patterns between personality traits and both dimensions.     

Proactive Personality at Work: Seeing More to Do and Doing More?

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model relating proactive personality to job behaviors (task and citizenship behaviors) through the intervening mediator of perceived role breadth.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were obtained from 530 faculty members in 69 U. S. research universities.

Findings

Proactive personality was positively related to task behavior and OCB. Perceived role breadth mediated the relationship between proactive personality and OCB, but did not mediate the relationship between proactive personality and task behavior. Despite not viewing their role more broadly, individuals higher in proactive personality engaged more frequently in both task behavior and OCB; and also worked more hours per week.

Implications

Having a better understanding of proactive individuals is important in terms of managing them. Because these individuals tend to do more in their jobs and subsequently work more hours, they may be more susceptible to burnout and may require additional help in determining priorities and balancing their work and lives.

Originality/value

This is the first study to show that proactive personality is positively related to the frequency with which these individuals engage in task and citizenship behavior. Although role breadth is generally an antecedent of such job behaviors, individuals higher in proactive personality engage more frequently in task behaviors regardless of whether or not they perceive them as part of their role. This is one of the first studies to show that working more hours each week is a potential cost of having a proactive personality.     

Differential Effect of Inter-Role Conflict on Proactive Individual’s Experience of Burnout

Purpose

This study examined how proactive personality interacts with inter-role conflict, measured as work?Cfamily conflict and family?Cwork conflict, to predict burnout, measured as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Participants were 171 clerical employees. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test whether proactive personality moderated the relationship between inter-role conflict and forms of burnout.

Findings

Family?Cwork conflict was not associated with burnout, but work?Cfamily conflict explained 30% of unique variance in emotional exhaustion and 9% in depersonalization. Proactive personality explained 12% of variance in personal accomplishment. Three-way interactions indicated that at high levels of work??family conflict and family??work conflict, proactive individuals reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment and higher levels of depersonalization than less proactive individuals.

Implications

While previous research has generally documented the virtues of proactive personality, our research indicates that when simultaneously faced with work?Cfamily and family?Cwork conflict, individuals with proactive personality experience more depersonalization and less personal accomplishment relative to less proactive individuals. Overall, results of three-way interactions imply that while a certain level of proactive personality may be necessary to buffer feelings of emotional exhaustion, beyond a certain level, proactive personality may lead one to experience higher levels of depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment.

Originality/Value

This study extends previous research by examining the influence of two types of inter-role conflict on all three dimensions of burnout. It also responds to calls for additional research on potential moderators, buffers, or even antidotes to stress by examining how proactive personality interacts with stressors.     

Proactive Personality Heterophily and the Moderating Role of Proactive Personality on Network Centrality and Psychological Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study

Purpose

In a social network study, this research investigates proactive personality dissimilarity as a basis for friendship ties over time. It also examines the moderating role of proactive personality on the relationship between network centrality and satisfaction/stress.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Longitudinal network data (two periods) were collected from business students (T1, n = 197; T2, n = 212). We captured the early stages of network formation and observed the changes in network structure over time.

Findings

Findings demonstrate proactive individuals develop ties with less proactive individuals over time, providing evidence of personality heterophily. In addition, proactive personality positively moderates the relationship between network centrality and satisfaction/stress. Interestingly, people’s perceptions of their network position (out-degree ties) were more strongly associated with their personal outcomes than their number of ties as nominated by others.

Originality/Value

This research is among the first to provide evidence of personality heterophily over time (relationships form because of differences in personality). Moreover, proactive personality is important to both the benefits and costs associated with network participation, pointing to paradoxical effects of proactive personality.