The five-factor model of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors: a meta-analysis

Using meta-analytic tests based on 87 statistically independent samples, we investigated the relationships between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors in both the aggregate and specific forms, including individual-directed, organization-directed, and change-oriented citizenship. We found that Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness/Intellect have incremental validity for citizenship over and above Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, 2 well-established FFM predictors of citizenship. In addition, FFM personality traits predict citizenship over and above job satisfaction. Finally, we compared the effect sizes obtained in the current meta-analysis with the comparable effect sizes predicting task performance from previous meta-analyses. As a result, we found that Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Extraversion have similar magnitudes of relationships with citizenship and task performance, whereas Openness and Agreeableness have stronger relationships with citizenship than with task performance. This lends some support to the idea that personality traits are (slightly) more important determinants of citizenship than of task performance. We conclude with proposed directions for future research on the relationships between FFM personality traits and specific forms of citizenship, based on the current findings.     

Does Positive Perception of Oneself Boost Learning Motivation and Performance?

We examine whether core self‐evaluations (CSEs) affect learning motivation and performance beyond individual‐level established predictors of general mental ability and conscientiousness. Based on self‐regulation theories, we develop and test a process model, whereby learning motivation mediates the effects of CSE on performance. We also compare the explanatory value of single and multidimensional models of learning motivation. Using a longitudinal design and data from 631 students, we provide support for the proposed model, indicating the usefulness of CSE as another important, indirect predictor of performance in a learning setting via multiple dimensions of learning motivation: self‐efficacy, goal setting, and goal commitment. The results also indicate the superiority of the multidimensional model of learning motivation over the unidimensional model of learning motivation as a mediator. We conclude with the discussion of theoretical and practical implications of this finding for management education.     

Optimism and Prostate Cancer-Specific Expectations Predict Better Quality of Life after Robotic Prostatectomy

We examined the relations among generalized positive expectations (optimism), prostate-cancer specific expectations, and prostate cancer-related quality of life in a prospective sample of 83 men who underwent robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) for prostate cancer. Optimism was significantly associated with higher prostate cancer-specific expectations, β = .36, p < .001. In addition, optimism and prostate cancer-specific expectations were independent prospective predictors of better scores on the following prostate cancer-related quality of life scales: Sexual Intimacy and Sexual Confidence; Masculine Self-Esteem (specific expectations only), Health Worry, Cancer Control, and Informed Decision Making (βs > .21, ps < .05). When considered simultaneously, both optimism and specific expectations contributed uniquely to better Health Worry and Cancer Control scores, optimism was a unique predictor of better Sexual Intimacy and Sexual Confidence scores, and specific expectations uniquely predicted higher scores on Informed Decision Making. Although optimism and prostate-cancer specific expectations are related, they contribute uniquely to several prostate cancer-related quality of life outcomes following RALP and may be important targets for quality of life research with this population.     

APPROACHING ISLAM: Comparative Ethics through Human Rights

A dialogical approach to understanding Islamic ethics rejects objectivist methods in favor of a conversational model in which participants accept each other as rational moral agents. Hans-Georg Gadamer asserts the importance of agreement upon a subject matter through conversation as a means to gaining insight into other persons and cultures, and Jürgen Habermas stresses the importance of fairness in dialogue. Using human rights as a subject matter for engaging in dialogue with Islamic scholars, Muslim perspectives on issues such as democracy, toleration, and freedom of conscience emerge. A capabilities approach to human rights, such as that developed by Martha Nussbaum, enables the coexistence of multiple religious ethical visions while insisting upon the need to protect and nurture essential human abilities.     

General And Culturally Specific Factors Influencing Black And White Rape Survivors' Self-Esteem

Grounded in a culturally inclusive ecological model of sexual assault recovery framework, the influence of personal (e.g., prior victimization), rape context (e.g., degree of injury during last assault), and postrape response factors (e.g., general and cultural attributions, rape related coping) on self-esteem of Black and White college women, who were survivors of attempted and completed rape, were examined. As predicted, Black and White women identified similar general variables (e.g., general attributions) as important in the recovery process. Black women, however, identified a cultural factor (i.e., cultural attributions) as more important in influencing their reactions to the last rape compared to their White counterparts. Using path analysis, findings from this cross-sectional study indicated that severity of the last assault and prior victimization were related to lower self-esteem indirectly through avoidance coping strategies, and victim blame attributions for the latter. Results also suggested that the link between cultural attributions and self-esteem was explained through victim blame attributions, primarily for Black participants. The model accounted for 26% of variance in self-esteem.     

Drive and Direction: Empathy with Intended Targets Moderates the Proactive Personality–Job Performance Relationship via Work Engagement

Proactive employees are self-starting and driven. Thus, they typically exhibit high levels of work engagement. While work engagement reflects the degree to which employees are attentive and absorbed when performing their work tasks, it does not guarantee effective job performance unless their actions are strategic. We draw on Grant and Ashford’s (2008) proactivity framework to develop a drive and direction contingency model that expands our understanding of how and when proactive personality predicts job performance via work engagement. We argue that employee’s drive (represented by the positive relation of proactive personality with work engagement) predicts job performance only when the employee also has high (vs. low) empathy with their intended targets, such as customers. Empathy with intended targets allows employees to understand and feel their targets’ concerns and feelings, thus providing a direction that guides their work engagement to address their targets’ interests and predict job performance. Results from a multiple-source (employees, supervisors, and organizational records) lagged (T1–T2) field study and a lab experiment support our model. We discuss the implications, limitations, and future directions of our findings.