- Access through your institution
Abstract
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.
Introduction
Personality traits are relevant for understanding job performance and organizational behavior. The Five-Factor Model (FFM) is the most prominent framework for organizing the range of personality traits studied in the behavioral sciences. Previous meta-analyses suggest the FFM traits are related to a range of work-related variables (Barrick and Mount, 1991, Berry et al., 2007, Chiaburu et al., 2011, Dudley et al., 2006, Hurtz and Donovan, 2000, Judge et al., 2013). A general conclusion from this literature is that conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of job performance among FFM traits for most jobs. Additional studies have tested how FFM traits are related to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive behavior (CWB) (Berry et al., 2007, Chiaburu et al., 2011). Altogether, these existing meta-analyses quantify the importance of personality for understanding workplace behavior and outcomes.
One limitation of the existing database, however, is that each meta-analysis primarily focuses on a specific performance outcome. Potential discrepancies across meta-analyses can make it difficult to draw clear conclusions from the overall literature. Thus, there is a need to integrate the existing meta-analyses to provide a summary of this area using second-order meta-analytic techniques (Schmidt & Oh, 2013). These approaches provide overall effect size estimates and quantify heterogeneity across existing first-order meta-analyses to determine whether apparent discrepancies reflect systematic variability or are best attributable to the influence of sampling error.
The current study contributes to the literature about personality and job performance in several ways. First, we provide overall effect size estimates based on existing first-order meta-analyses investigating the validities of FFM personality traits on various job performance criteria. Second, we evaluate whether these validities vary across performance criteria by estimating second-order sampling error (i.e., potentially random error across first-order meta-analyses). Third, we model the unique statistical effects of each FFM personality trait for each performance criterion. Finally, we test whether validity estimates for the FFM traits differ across occupations, sources of ratings, and national cultures. These analyses provide a broad evaluation of potential moderators of the associations between FFM attributes and job-related outcomes.
Section snippets
The value of second-order meta-analysis
A second-order meta-analysis quantitatively summarizes independent first-order meta-analyses (Cooper and Koenka, 2012, Schmidt and Oh, 2013, Young, 2017). In essence, a second-order meta-analysis is a meta-analysis of meta-analyses. A substantial number of first-order personality trait meta-analyses have been reported in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management journals and this number is continuously growing. Given that many
Does the validity of FFM traits and their facets vary across performance criteria?
Job performance is a multifaceted construct and personality traits may differentially relate to many different aspects of job performance. Borman and Motowidlo, 1993, Borman and Motowidlo, 1997 partitioned job performance into task and contextual performance. Task performance refers to the activities that employees perform to contribute to the organization’s technical performance either directly by engaging in technological process, or indirectly by providing necessary services (e.g.,
Searching for first-order meta-analyses
We used Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar to search for existing meta-analyses containing the keywords meta-analy* (to meta-analysis and meta-analytic) in combination with other keywords such as performance, Big Five personality, and five-factor model. This step identified 101 meta-analyses to review for potential inclusion in our analysis. The first-order meta-analytic estimates required for our analyses were extracted from these meta-analyses and the sources of all information were
Differential validity across performance criterion types
Five-Factor Model. According to previous first-order meta-analyses, the validities of conscientiousness (ρ = 0.15–0.29), agreeableness (ρ = 0.07–0.23), emotional stability (ρ = 0.06–0.16), openness (ρ = −0.16 to 0.12), and extraversion (ρ = −0.01 to 0.10) vary across job performance criteria. Accordingly, second-order meta-analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which the differences effect size estimates across job performance criteria for FFM personality traits were attributable to
Discussion
The present study reports a series of second-order meta-analyses regarding the associations between FFM attributes and job performance. The second-order approach has the potential to advance knowledge regarding variance in the validities of FFM traits and provides more precise validity estimates by pooling effect sizes across multiple first-order meta-analyses. Thus, the current work is an integration of previous meta-analyses and an important extension of those studies. First, by adopting the
References (65)
Technology-enhanced mathematics instruction: A second-order meta-analysis of 30 years of research
Educational Research Review
(2017)
- D. Van der Linden et al.
The general factor of personality: A meta-analysis of big five intercorrelations and a criterion-related validity study
Journal of Research in Personality
(2010)
- F.L. Schmidt et al.
Methods for second order meta-analysis and illustrative applications
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
(2013)
- W.C. Borman
360° ratings: An analysis of assumptions and a research agenda for evaluating their validity
Human Resource Management Review
(1997)
- R.D. Arvey et al.
Cross-cultural and cross-national issues in personnel and human resources management: Where do we go from here
- M.R. Barrick et al.
The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis
Personnel Psychology
(1991)
- M.R. Barrick et al.
Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next?
International Journal of Selection and Assessment
(2001)
- M.R. Barrick et al.
Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2002)
- C.M. Berry et al.
Do other-reports of counterproductive work behavior provide an incremental contribution over self-reports? A meta-analytic comparison
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2012)
- C.M. Berry et al.
Meta-analysis of interpersonal deviance, organizational deviance, and their common correlates: A review and meta-analysis
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2007)
Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. Personnel selection in organizations
(1993)
Task performance and contextual performance: The meaning for personnel selection research
Human Performance
(1997)
The Korean management system: Cultural, political, economic foundations
(1994)
The five-factor model of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2011)
Situational judgment tests: Constructs assessed and a meta-analysis of their criterion-related validities
Personnel Psychology
(2010)
A meta-analysis of incremental validity and nomological networks for subordinate and peer rating
Human Performance
(2001)
The overview of reviews: Unique challenges and opportunities when research syntheses are the principal elements of new integrative scholarship
American Psychologist
(2012)
A meta-analytic investigation of conscientiousness in the prediction of job performance: Examining the intercorrelations and the incremental validity of narrow traits
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2006)
Why openness to experience is not a good predictor of job performance
International Journal of Selection and Assessment
(2004)
Selecting for change: How will personnel and selection psychology survive. International Handbook of Selection and Assessment
(1997)
Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations
(2001)
Personality and personality measurement
A socioanalytic perspective on job performance
Human Performance
(1998)
Personality traits, taxonomies, and applications in organizations. Individual differences and behavior in organizations
(1996)
Identification and meta-analytic assessment of psychological constructs measured in employment interviews
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2001)
Personality and job performance: The big five revisited
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2000)
Validation is like motor oil: Synthetic is better
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
(2010)
Self-efficacy and work-related performance: The integral role of individual differences
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2007)
Hierarchical representations of the five-factor model of personality in predicting job performance: Integrating three organizing frameworks with two theoretical perspectives
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2013)
The letter of recommendation effect in informant ratings of personality
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(2010)
Can multi-source feedback change perceptions of goal accomplishment, self-evaluations, and performance-related outcomes? Theory-based applications and directions for research
Personnel Psychology
(1995)
Antecedents of counterproductive behavior at work: A general perspective
Journal of Applied Psychology
(2004)
Cited by (0)
Recommended articles (6)
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.