An empirical study of personality traits, job market appraisal and self-perceived employability in an uncertain environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-274
Author(s):  
Brownhilder Ngek Neneh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether personality traits play a significant role in understanding students’ self-perceived employability and test if the associations are influenced by the student’s job market appraisal. This is important as perceptions about one’s employability hold invaluable importance for students in uncertain job environments as they might need to form strategies to cope with unemployment until they find a job. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 296 using a questionnaire survey approach and analyzed using hierarchical regression to test the hypothesized associations. Findings The findings showed that agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience are positive and significantly associated with self-perceived employability. Also, job market appraisal played a momentous role in predicting self-perceived employability both directly and via interaction with conscientiousness and openness to experience. Practical implications The present study is valuable to different stakeholders such as educators, employers and students as it identifies the personality dispositions that should be encouraged among students while also indicating the need for fostering student’s reappraisal of uncertain job markets. Originality/value This study presents new evidence on the application of the appraisal theory by indicating the interaction between personality traits and cognitive appraisal. This advances the current theoretical understanding of the mechanism through which personality traits can best explain individual differences in self-perceived employability.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greeni Maheshwari

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate the influence of personality traits, individual factors and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) components (personal attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) on entrepreneurial intentions of university students. The study further aims to determine which factors have a higher influence on the entrepreneurial intentions of the students.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected using an online survey from 164 students studying in universities in Vietnam. The study used confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression to analyse the data.FindingsResults suggested that educational support has no impact on entrepreneurial intentions but individual factors such as self-efficacy, risk propensity and need for power and all the TPB components influenced entrepreneurial intentions. The TPB components had a higher influence on entrepreneurial intentions of students as compared to individual factors.Originality/valueOnly a few studies have been conducted to determine the strength of factors affecting entrepreneurial intensions of the students. This study demonstrates that TPB components have the highest influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, the study introduces an independent variable, need for power which is rarely used in any such studies and this adds a new component to the already existing research framework and in academic literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Thi Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Duong Tuan Nguyen ◽  
Hang Thu Nguyen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of entrepreneurs’ personality traits on firm innovation performance through the mediation role of entrepreneurs’ innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach The data consist of 2,574 firms from a survey of small and medium-scale manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, a developing and transitioning economy where SMEs constitute an integral part of the economy. The estimation results based on the structural equation model was applied to analyze the data. Findings The results indicate that an entrepreneur’s innovativeness is positively associated with his extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience but negatively accompanied with his neuroticism. Besides, the three traits – openness to experience, conscientiousness and extraversion have positive indirect effects, while neuroticism has a negative indirect effect on technological improvement and new technology adoption. However, the effects of agreeableness on entrepreneurial innovativeness and firm innovation performance are insignificant. In addition, the diverse backgrounds of the entrepreneur such as education and ethnics are also found to influence his innovativeness and to have indirect effects on firm innovation performance. Originality/value This study may contribute to the immature literature on the entrepreneurial process within SMEs by presenting empirical evidence on the relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits and firm innovation with a large sample of SMEs in Vietnam, an emerging economy where SMEs constitute an integral part of the economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Doanh Duong

PurposeThis study examines the roles of Big Five personality traits, including conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness to experience, in shaping green consumption behavior, as well as bridging the attitude-intention-behavior gap in environmentally friendly consumption and testing the gender differences between these associations.Design/methodology/approachA dataset of 611 consumers was collected by means of mall-intercept surveys in major Vietnamese cities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) via AMOS 24.0 was employed to test the proposed conceptual framework and hypotheses, while the PROCESS approach was utilized to estimate mediation standardized regression coefficients.FindingsThe study revealed that in addition to extraversion, other personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience and neuroticism) were strongly associated with green consumption. Moreover, attitude towards green products and intention to buy environmentally friendly products were determined to have key roles in explaining consumers' pro-environmental behavior. There was also a notable difference in the impact of personality traits on men's and women's green consumption.Practical implicationsThis study provides useful recommendations for administrational practices seeking to understand consumer behavior, build appropriate marketing and communication campaigns and attract customers to buy environmentally friendly products.Originality/valueThis study makes efforts to resolve the attitude-intention-behavior gap, a recurring theme in the green consumption literature, as well as illustrates the significance of Big Five personality traits in explaining attitude, intention and behavior when purchasing green products. This research also demonstrates that Big Five personality traits have significantly different effects on green consumption attitudes and intention to carry out pro-behavioral consumption.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-513
Author(s):  
Seniz Özhan ◽  
Nevin Altug ◽  
Eylem Deniz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the joint effect of two composite characteristics –openness to experience (OE) and nostalgia proneness (NP) – on product involvement (PI) and whether brand loyalty (BL) is a result of this PI. Design/methodology/approach In accordance with this purpose, a model suggesting that OE dimension of the five-factor model and NP influences PI and PI influences BL was developed and tested. The data used in the study were obtained from 1,392 participants from the Thrace region of Turkey. The authors use a structural equation model to test and confirm hypothesis. Findings OE influences PI and hence BL. On the other hand, it has been concluded that NP has no significant influence on PI. Research limitations/implications This is the first study to examine the influence of OE, one of the personality traits, and NP on BL. In this study, only OE, which is one of the five-factor personality traits, has been examined. Studies in the future may research the relationship between other personality traits and NP, PI and BL. Practical implications This paper provides managerial insights into why consumers’ personality traits and NP need to be taken into consideration in creating BL. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, the influence of OE and NP on BL has not been addressed in the current literature. Personality traits and NP are closely related to individuals’ behaviors as a consumer. Understanding the factors that influence consumer purchase decision processes is of crucial importance to managers and researchers alike. The paper is of great value for firms that consider enhance BL.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Quintelier

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to use the “Big Five” personality structure (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability) to explore the relationship with political consumer behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Political consumer behavior is (not) buying products for social, political or environmental reasons. Cited motivations for political consumption include preserving the environment, developing a sustainable economy or using boycotts as political pressure, alongside social reasons such as reducing child labor. We explored this relationship among two representative studies of young people using ordinary least squares regression. Findings – We concluded that in particular openness to experience leads to more political consumer behavior. Agreeableness or trust in people also often has a positive effect on political consumer behavior, while the effects of extraversion tend on the contrary to be negative. Research limitations/implications – Although in the literature the “Big Five” is generally accepted as the best measure for the main personality traits, there is no consensus on the measurement of personality. The research area has thus a clear need for a good, reliable measurement of the five personality traits, such as the TIPI or a short version of the bipolar personality scales. Practical implications – The research suggests that a more specific approach towards young political consumers might be valuable. Social implications – The research can influence how marketers deal with fair trade products or how boycotts can attract larger audiences. Through this knowledge, social responsibility and environmental conscientiousness will increase. Originality/value – This article focuses on the personality traits and motivations of the political consumers and how these personality traits interact with the attitudes that motivate political consumption using representative samples of young people. It also focuses on a specific and different outcome, political consumption, whereas most studies focused solely on single items of pro-environmental behavior .


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 771-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Kienzler

Purpose While marketing and management research suggests that managers’ individual characteristics influence pricing decisions, the influence of personality traits in this context remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between the five basic personality traits of the five-factor model (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness and neuroticism) and three basic pricing practices (value-, competition- and cost-informed). Design/methodology/approach On the basis of a non-experimental decision-making scenario, the analysis examines the pricing decisions of 57 managers in relation to a new business service. Findings The results suggest that managers’ conscientiousness and openness to experience are positively related to preference for value-informed pricing. Similarly, managers’ agreeableness is positively related to preference for competition-informed pricing and managers’ openness to experience and agreeableness are positively related to preference for cost-informed pricing. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional study design does not support causal inference, and the modest sample size may limit the external validity of the findings. Practical implications By increasing awareness of the influence of personality on pricing preferences, the findings are of relevance to managers who are directly involved in pricing decisions. Additionally, the findings are informative for managers who must assign responsibility for pricing authority within firms. Originality/value This empirical exploration of the relationship between certain personality traits and specific pricing practices contributes to the literature on psychological aspects of pricing theory by showing how managerial personality influences pricing preferences under uncertainty.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 7-9

Purpose The authors wanted to find out if they could establish a connection between the cognitive styles and also the personality traits of managers and the roles they were best at. Design/methodology/approach They tested a series of six hypotheses on 101 managers and senior managers in diverse leadership roles in India. The four major types of cognitive style were intuitive thinking (NT), sensing thinking (ST), intuitive feeling (NF) and sensing feeling (SF). Meanwhile, the Big Five personality traits were openness to experience (O), extraversion (E), consciousness (C), agreeableness (A), and neuroticism (N). Finally, the three categories of leadership roles were identity work, institutional work, and integrative work. Findings The data from 101 managers in diverse industries found that an “intuitive feeling” cognitive style is suitable for identity work, whereas an “intuitive thinking” style works well for integrative work. Meanwhile, “openness to experience” and “conscientiousness” are correlated positively with identity work. “Conscientiousness” was also the most important trait for managers doing institutional work, but “agreeableness” had a negative effect on both institutional and identity work. Originality/value The authors said that no previous researchers had measured the impact of personality and cognitive style on work types. They said it was important for organizations to make sure they found the right roles for their managers depending on their individual characteristics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-273
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Wu

Purpose This study aims to examine distinct influences of two dimension job stress on job satisfaction and the moderating effects of guanxi-oriented attitude on the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction under cognitive appraisal theory and transactional theory. Design/methodology/approach In this study, surveys are conducted among state-owned younger bank employees. The author uses the scale of job challenge stress and hindrance stress developed among Chinese younger bank employees to measure the two dimension job stress. After demonstrating guanxi-relative concepts, the moderating effects of guanxi-oriented attitude are examined in this study. Findings The results demonstrate that guanxi-oriented attitude does not significantly moderate the influence of challenge stress on job satisfaction, while it significantly moderates the noxious influence of hindrance stress on job satisfaction. Theoretical contributions are also discussed. Originality/value First, this study suggests specific procedures to conduct hierarchical regression analysis and confirms the effects by parameters. It also proposes and summarizes specific procedures on how to calculate regression equations and draw regression lines to check the interaction received from the hierarchical regression analysis visually. Second, based on cognitive appraisal theory, guanxi-oriented attitude, a Chinese indigenous cognitive concept, was verified in this study. According to the importance of guanxi in Chinese society, the paper shows that employees who value guanxi more will buffer the noxious effects of job stress. Trainings and counseling should be designed to regulate the normal guanxi-oriented-related cognition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 717-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Kun Yu ◽  
Ruobing Xi ◽  
Xiaodan Zhang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of servant leadership on followers’ subjective career success and the mediating role of career skills. The moderating effect of followers’ proactive personality is also investigated. Design/methodology/approach This paper collected two-wave matched data from 283 employees of an IT company. The authors use hierarchical regression and bootstrapping to test the hypotheses. Findings Servant leadership has a positive effect on career satisfaction and perceived employability through career skills. In addition, proactive personality moderates the association between servant leadership and career skills, such that the relationship is stronger when proactive personality is high. Proactive personality also moderates the indirect effect of servant leadership on career satisfaction and perceived employability. Practical implications The findings suggest that organizations should select and train leaders to practice servant leadership to enhance employee subjective career success. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate the mechanism and boundary conditions of the association between servant leadership and employee subjective career success.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfered Matthew Yaw Owusu ◽  
Mary-Ann Bart-Plange ◽  
Theodora Aba Abekah Koomson ◽  
Miriam Arthur

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship among personality traits, tax morale and tax evasion intention of students. Using the five-factor model of personality ratings, this study hypothesizes that agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism are good predictors of both tax morale and tax evasion intentions of individuals. Further, this paper argues that tax morale correlates negatively with tax evasion intention. Design/methodology/approach A survey method was adopted and questionnaires were developed to elicit responses for the study. The study hypotheses were tested structurally using the partial least square-structural equation modelling technique. Findings The results of the study demonstrate the existence of a positive and statistically significant relationship between three dimensions of the personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience) and tax morale. Consistent with the expectation, the study also finds tax morale to be significant and negatively associated with tax evasion intention. Research limitations/implications This study concludes from the findings that improving the tax morale of individuals could be an important way by which tax authorities can improve voluntary tax compliance and reduce the incidence of tax evasion by individuals. Originality/value The study uses all the dimensions of the five-factor model to examine the tax evasion intention of individuals. It also contributes to the theoretical literature by highlighting the mediating role of tax morale in the relationship between personality traits and tax evasion intention from an African perspective.


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