Openness and Job Performance in U.S.-Based Japanese Manufacturing Companies

The current study examined one possible explanation for the lack of stability found to date in the relationship between Openness to Experience, a second-order Big Five personality factor, and job performance. An organizational setting and geographic locale were chosen, a priori, to reflect a condition that would increase the potential for openness to serve as an advantageous personality disposition for job performance. Consequently, we studied job performance and openness among inhabitants of the southeast employed in U.S.-based Japanese manufacturing companies. A step-wise hierarchical regression analysis revealed that openness predicted unique variance in job performance for these employees above and beyond both cognitive aptitude, and the other four personality dimensions of the Big Five. Explanations for the finding and its implications on the study of personality-job performance linkages are discussed.