The effects of personality traits on job performance and the role of gender as a moderator: The case of company x
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Date
2019-10
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Publisher
A.A.U.
Abstract
This paper investigates the nature of the relationship between the Big Five personality
traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience) and job
performance. Additionally, it also investigates whether said relationship is moderated by
gender. While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and job
performance outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain
underexplored. Data was collected from a garment factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
where 157 employees were randomly selected from a population of 262 production
employees. This data was analyzed using the multiple linear regression model in Stata.
The results show that overall more conscientious and the less neurotic individuals
perform better at their job. Additionally, women who are more extroverted or more open
to new experiences perform worse at their job than their counterparts, while for men
higher levels of extraversion and openness resulted in better job performance. These
results have implications for the way personality is assessed for hiring purposes.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award
of Masters of Business Administration
Keywords
Big Five personality traits, Gender, Job performance