James M. Loveland

Intelligence, “Big Five” personality traits, and work drive as predictors of course grade

Abstract General intelligence, Big Five personality constructs, and a measure of work drive were studied in relation to course grade in an undergraduate psychology course taught by the same professor for 175 students over a 5-year period. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, general intelligence accounted significantly for 16% of the variance in course grade; Big Five personality measures accounted significantly for an additional 7% of the variance; and work drive accounted significantly for an additional 4% of the variance. However, when work drive was entered before the Big Five variables, the Big Five variables did not add significantly (either as a set or individually) to the prediction of course grade. Results were discussed in terms of the importance of personality constructs in uniquely predicting academic performance and the need for additional study using more diverse predictors and aggregated criterion measures.

An Investigation of Personality Traits in Relation to Career Satisfaction

We examined personality traits in relation to career satisfaction and job satisfaction for 5,932 individuals in career transition. Personality traits were related to career satisfaction and job satisfaction in the total sample and 14 separate occupational groups. Regression analyses revealed three personality traits consistently related to career satisfaction: emotional resilience, optimism, and work drive in initial and holdout samples as well as in all 14 occupational groups, accounting for an average of 17% of career satisfaction variance. Personality traits correlated with career satisfaction included the Big Five traits of conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness and other, narrower traits, such as assertiveness, customer service orientation, and human managerial relations orientation. Results were discussed in terms of Hollands general personal competence factor, Golemans emotional intelligence, career adaptation, and the nomothetic span of personality constructs. Also discussed were study limitations, suggestions for future research, and practical implications for career counseling.

An Investigation of Big Five Personality Traits and Career Decidedness Among Early and Middle Adolescents

Big Five personality traits were analyzed in relation to career decidedness among adolescents in middle and high school. Participants were 248 7th-grade, 321 10thgrade, and 282 12th-grade students. As hypothesized, Conscientiousness was positively and significantly correlated with career decidedness in all three grades. Openness and Agreeableness were found to be positively related to career decidedness for these middle and high school students. Emotional Stability was positively, significantly related to career decidedness for the 12th-grade sample. There were no significant differences in correlational results for males versus females. No significant mean differences in career decidedness were observed between the three grades. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and career development efforts.

Core personality traits of managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare managers with employees in other occupations on Big Five and narrow personality traits to identify a distinctive personality profile for managers. Design/methodology/approach – An archival data set representing employees in a wide range of business sectors and organizations was utilized to compare trait scores of 9,138 managers with 76,577 non-managerial employees. Profile analysis (PA) with MANOVA and analysis of covariance was used to compare managers and non-managers on Big Five traits Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability; and narrow traits Assertiveness, Optimism, Work Drive, and Customer Service Orientation. Findings – As hypothesized, compared to non-managers, managers had significantly higher scores across nine traits, all of which correlated significantly with managerial career satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – Although job tenure and managerial level are not examined, the fin...

Distinctive personality traits of quality management personnel

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in personality and career satisfaction between quality managers and workers in other fields based on Person-Environment Fit theory. Design/methodology/approach – Field study: personality and career satisfaction data for 965 quality managers were compared with those for a sample of over 85,000 individuals in many different occupations and employment settings using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and t-tests. Findings – Quality managers were higher than other occupations in intrinsic motivation, tough-mindedness, and conscientiousness, but lower in career satisfaction, optimism, and assertiveness. Research limitations/implications – This paper does not contain any longitudinal study; there is also a lack of some demographic variables, including race/ethnicity, job tenure, and career tenure. Practical implications – The findings carry implications for career planning, recruiting, pre-employment testing, training, and helping quality...