John W. Lounsbury

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 factors associated with vacation satisfaction.

We factor analyzed specific vacation satisfactions and examined overall vacation satisfaction in relation to demographic, work-related, and vacation-related variables. Data were obtained from 129 r...

Collegiate psychological sense of community in relation to size of college/university and extroversion

A scale to measure psychological sense of community (PSC) for colleges and universities was developed. Based on responses of 198 undergraduate students, factor-analysis was used to derive a 14-item scale (coefficient alpha = .88), which was given to another student sample of 98 undergraduates (alpha = .90). This collegiate PSC scale was administered to another nonrandom sample of 1127 undergraduates (coefficient alpha = .92) from 27 colleges varying in enrollment size. Using a subset of 774 students from psychology classes, a one-way analysis of variance revealed that students from colleges with enrollments of less than 2,000 and 2,000-9,999 had higher PSC scores than students from colleges with enrollments of 10,000-19,999 and greater than 20,000. Higher PSC scores were also observed for students living on-campus versus off-campus. For all colleges combined, higher PSC scores were observed for students who were members of a fraternity or sorority. Extroversion was found to be significantly related to PSC. Both extroversion and size of school accounted for unique variance in PSC. The issues of community homogeneity and diversity were raised. Results were discussed in terms of PSC as an environmental attribute versus personological and interactionist interpretations. Future research needs were noted.

An Investigation of Personality Traits in Relation to Adolescent School Absenteeism

We examined the Big Five personality traits of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness, as well as four narrower traits of Aggression, Optimism, Tough-Mindedness, and Work Drive in relation to absences from school for middle- and high-school students. Participants were 248 seventh grade students, 321 tenth grade students, and 282 twelfth grade students. Most of the Big Five absence correlations were significant in the expected direction at all 3 grade levels. While Aggression, Optimism, Work Drive were significantly related to absences, only Work Drive added incremental variance to the prediction of absences beyond the Big Five traits. Study results were generally similar across grade levels. Findings were discussed in terms of dispositional absenteeism, the generalizability of the Big Five trait model, and the utility of more narrowband traits. Implications were drawn for early identification of absence-prone students and the precedent role of personality variables in school absence research on the effects of other variables, programs, and interventions.

Leisure needs and vacation satisfaction.

Abstract Following a classical approach to the conceptualization of human needs, we adapted Beard and Raghebs (1983) Leisure Motivation Scale to measure expressed needs prior to a vacation and met needs following a vacation in four domains: social, intellectual, competence mastery, and stimulus avoidance. All four met‐needs measures were significantly related to vacation satisfaction. For men, levels of expressed intellectual and competence mastery were positively related to vacation satisfaction; for women, level of expressed social needs was negatively related to vacation satisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of the need‐satisfying properties of vacations, gender differences, and suggestions for future research.

Personality, Career Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: Test of a Directional Model

A conceptual model proposing paths from personality traits to career satisfaction and life satisfaction and from career satisfaction to life satisfaction was evaluated in a field study by structural equations modeling using LISREL 8. Participants were a convenience sample of 1,352 information science professionals. An exploratory maximum likelihood common factor analysis revealed two oblique personality factors, the first comprised of extraversion, optimism, assertiveness, openness, and emotional stability and the second consisting of conscientiousness and tough-mindedness. Results indicated a good fit for a two-factor personality model showing significant links between both personality factors and career satisfaction, between the second personality factor and life satisfaction, and between career and life satisfaction. Findings are discussed in terms of comparisons to previous research, limitations, and areas for further research, with emphasis on the importance of personality in relation to career satisfaction and the relationship between career and life satisfaction.

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.

An investigation of personality traits in relation to job and career satisfaction of information technology professionals

Personality traits were examined in relation to job satisfaction and career satisfaction for 1059 information technology (IT) professionals. As hypothesized, eight traits were significantly related to both job and career satisfaction: Assertiveness, Emotional Resilience, Extraversion, Openness, Teamwork Disposition, Customer Service Orientation, Optimism, and Work Drive. Regression analyses indicated that sets of three and four traits accounted for 17 and 25%, respectively, of job and career satisfaction variance. As expected, career satisfaction correlations were of generally higher magnitude than corresponding job satisfaction correlations. Results were interpreted in terms of IT research and theorizing. The findings that Extraversion and Teamwork Disposition were related to job and career satisfaction contravenes job descriptions and career planning advice, suggesting that independent introverts are better suited for IT work. Given that adult personality is antecedent to work experiences, it was suggested that future research proposing to show the effects of work-related factors such as pay and challenge on job or career satisfaction should first control for personality traits. Other practical and theoretical implications were noted.

Sense of Identity and Collegiate Academic Achievement.

In a sample of 434 university freshmen, Sense of Identity was found to be positively related to GPA, even controlling for the Big Five personality traits of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness. Similar correlations were found for racial and gender subgroups. When all study variables entered a stepwise multiple regression analysis to predict GPA variance, Sense of Identity accounted for 9%; Emotional Stability, 1%. Results were discussed vis-a-vis Chickering and Reissers (1993) and Hamrick, Evans, and Schuhs (2002) emphasis on identity as a key outcome of college student development. Directions for future research and study limitations were described.