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Within-person personality variability in the work context: A blessing or a curse for job performance?
Abrahams,Loes Vergauwe,Jasmine De Fruyt,Filip
Abrahams,Loes
Vergauwe,Jasmine
De Fruyt,Filip
Abstract
Only recently, the question whether within-person personality variability is a blessing or a curse for job performance has reached the agendas of Industrial and Organizational (I-O) psychology researchers. Yet, this limited stream of research resulted in inconsistent findings, and only little understanding exists about the role of rater source and mean-level personality in this relationship. Broadly following socioanalytic theory, the present study examined the extent to which self- and other-rated within-person personality variability predict self- and other-rated job performance, and whether this is moderated by mean-level personality. Within-person personality variability indices and job performance evaluations were obtained from an experience sampling study including N = 166 teachers, N = 95 supervisors, and N = 69 classes (including 1,354 students). Results showed that—above and beyond the effects of mean-level personality—self-rated within-person variability was positively associated with self-rated job performance, while other-rated within-person variability was negatively associated with other-ratings of performance. Many interactions with mean-level personality were found, mainly demonstrating negative effects of variability for those with a less adaptive personality profile (cf. variability as a ‘curse’), while showing positive effects of variability for those with a more adaptive trait profile (cf. variability as a ‘blessing’). Importantly, however, additional analyses provided little evidence for associations across type of rater source. These findings contribute to the field of I-O psychology by highlighting that perceptions of within-person personality variability may impact performance evaluations beyond personality traits, although its desirability seems to depend on individuals’ personality trait level. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Description
Funding Information: This research was supported by a Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds grant (BOF.DOC.2017.0044.01) awarded to Loes Abrahams. Loes Abrahams also benefited from a grant from the Ayrton Senna Institute Endowed Chair at Ghent University
Date
2023
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Keywords
job performance, observer ratings, personality states, socioanalytic theory, within-person variability
Citation
Abrahams, L, Vergauwe, J & De Fruyt, F 2023, 'Within-person personality variability in the work context : A blessing or a curse for job performance?', Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001101
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess