Optimizing authentic leadership

Purpose Personality is important in determining the effectiveness of authentic leadership. Organizations can optimize performance of such leaders by focusing on developing the most influential characteristics of the Big Five personality traits framework. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Personality is important in determining the effectiveness of authentic leadership. Organizations can optimize performance of such leaders by focusing on developing the most influential characteristics of the Big Five personality traits framework. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Big five personality traits and physician-certified sickness absence

Although several studies show that personality traits are associated with absenteeism, few large-scale studies have examined these relationships prospectively, integrating survey data and register data on sickness absence. This study examines whether personality is associated with sickness absence, and whether health factors, gender, age, type of occupation and job satisfaction moderate this relationship. We combine survey data assessing the Big Five personality traits from a large sample of Norwegian employees aged 18–62 years ( N = 5017) with register data on physician-certified sickness absence up to four years after. Negative binomial regression analyses showed that extraversion was positively associated with subsequent sickness absence when controlling for several covariates, including health, work factors and previous spells of sickness absence. Neuroticism also showed significant positive associations with sick leave; however, the association diminished when accounting for previous spells of sickness absence. Moderator analyses demonstrated that age and type of occupation affected some of the associations between personality and sickness absence. The findings indicate that – in addition to general health promotion measures – specific interventions targeting individuals high in extraversion may be beneficial in reducing sick leave. How socio-demographic and work-related factors moderate the relationship between personality and sickness absence may be an interesting future research area.

Investigating the Impact of Situational Influences and Social Support on Social Commerce during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Without question, 2020 was an unprecedented period for all businesses and consumers in the world, especially for social commerce businesses. Growing online shopping during the pandemic has proliferated the appetite of social commerce websites. Drawing on the situational influences’ theory and social support theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of situational influences during the COVID-19 pandemic on online purchase intention across the big five personality traits. The data were collected via online survey. The sample consisted of 349 social commerce website users in the UK. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares-Structured Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results showed the different cohorts of buying intention on social commerce websites. Social support does not impact online purchase intention, while other situational factors do. Moreover, the model varied across the big five personality traits. The study substantially contributes to social commerce by investigating the social support and situational influences across different types of personality traits on online purchase intention during the pandemic.

Hardwired to attack. Candidates’ personality traits and negative campaigning in three European countries

A growing body of studies shows that the reasons for competing candidates to “go negative” on their opponents during elections—that is, attacking their opponents instead of promoting their own programs or ideas stem from strategic considerations. Yet, existing research has, at this stage, failed to assess whether candidates’ personality traits also play a role. In this article, we bridge the gap between existing work in political psychology and political communication and study to what extent the personality traits of competing candidates are linked with their use of negative campaigning strategies. We rely on candidate survey data for recent elections in three countries—Germany (2017), Switzerland (2019), and Finland (2019). The data includes self-reported measures for candidates’ “Big Five” personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness) and the the use of attacks towards their opponents during the campaign. Controlling for the usual suspects driving the use of negative campaigning we show that this latter is associated with low agreeableness and (marginally) with high extraversion and low conscientiousness. The role of personality for the focus of an attack (issue vs. character attacks) is somewhat less clear-cut. All in all, kinder and more stable candidates tend to go less negative; when they do, they tend to stay away from character-based attacks and somehow focus on issues.

The Role of Phishing Victims’ Neuroticism: Reasons Behind the Lack of Consensus

The growing use of electronic devices along with the anxiety resulting from the COVID19 pandemic set the ground for cybercriminals to take advantage of a larger number of victims and undertake their massive phishing campaigns. Technical measures are widely developed, and the human factor is still the weakest link in the chain. Whilst existing literature suggests that the effect of neuroticism, as one of the Big-Five personality traits, might play an important role in human behaviour in the phishing context, results do not provide uniform outcomes with regards to the influence of this trait in phishing victimisation. With the aim to analyse those results, this article provides a synthesis of the studies aimed at improving the understanding of this trait, and collects evidence that the small samples size used in most of the studies along with their lack of uniformity are behind the contradictory conclusions found on the role of neuroticism and human susceptibility to phishing attacks.

Association between personality traits and food stockpiling for disaster

This study investigated the association between personality traits and food stockpiling for disasters in predicted high-risk areas of food shortages due to the Nankai Trough Earthquake. This survey was conducted between December 18 and 20, 2019, using a web-based questionnaire. The participants were 1,200 individuals registered with an online survey company. This study analyzed the association between the Big Five personality traits and food stockpiling status (n = 1192). The Big Five personality traits assess five basic dimensions of personality (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness). To measure theses personality traits, we used the Japanese version of the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI-J). The Mann-Whitney test and a multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that none of the Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with having or not having stockpile food. However, interestingly, considering the stages of behavior change regarding stockpiling, high extraversion was significantly positively related to initiating stockpiling. Moreover, high neuroticism was significantly positively related to interrupted stockpiling. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on personality traits (especially low extraversion and high neuroticism) to promote food stockpiling for disasters.

Addiction to Social Networking Sites and User Responses

Prior studies have primarily used "variable-centered" perspectives to identify factors underlying user responses to social networking site (SNS) addiction, their predictors and outcomes. This paper extends this perspective by taking a person-centered approach to examine (1) the prototypical subpopulations (profiles) of users' extent of SNS addiction and responses to it, (2) how affiliations with these profiles can explain user behaviors toward SNS use, and (3) how personality traits can predict affiliations with these profiles. To this end, we propose a typological theory of SNS addiction and user responses to it via two empirical, personcentered studies. Study 1 draws on survey data from 188 SNS users to develop a typology of users based on the extent of their SNS addiction and their responses to it. It further examines the relations between affiliation with these profiles and users' SNS discontinuance intention, as a typical behavioral response to SNS addiction. Study 2 uses survey data from 284 SNS users to validate the user typology developed in Study 1 and investigate its relations to users' Big Five personality traits. Our findings shed light on a typology of five prototypical profiles of SNS users-cautious, regular, consonant, dissonant, and hooked-who differ in their extent of SNS addiction and their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to it. Our findings also demonstrate how Big Five personality traits can predict user affiliations with these prototypical profiles.

Personality, Interpersonal Problems, and Anxiety Among Older Adults

Introduction: This study examined relationships between personality disorder (PD) features, Big Five personality traits, and interpersonal problems with anxiety. Method: Older adults ( N = 130) completed the Geriatric Anxiety Scale, Coolidge Axis Two Inventory, Big Five Inventory-2, and Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems. Pearson correlation analyses were used to assess simple relationships between anxiety with PD features (CATI scales), Big Five personality domains (BFI-2 scales), and interpersonal problems (CSIP scales). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the extent to which the PD scales of the CATI, the personality scales of the BFI-2, and the scales of the CSIP explained variance in anxiety. Results: Anxiety was positively correlated with 13 of 14 PD scales, ranging from .23 (Narcissistic) to .61 (Depressive). Regarding Big Five personality traits, anxiety was negatively associated with Agreeableness (−.23), Conscientiousness (−.30), and Extraversion (−.31) but was positively associated with Negative Emotionality (.56). Regarding interpersonal problems, anxiety was positively related to all eight CSIP scales, ranging from Self-sacrificing (.30) to Distant/Cold (.62). Regression analyses indicated that PD features accounted for the most variance in anxiety symptoms (53%), followed by interpersonal problems (46%), and Big Five personality traits (33%). Discussion: Anxiety appears to be meaningfully associated with PD features, several aspects of Big Five personality traits, and interpersonal problems, suggesting that these variables may play important roles in the development and maintenance of anxiety, or vice versa. Our findings especially speak to the growing awareness of the deleterious impact of PD features on clinical syndromes in later life, as evidenced by strong comorbidities with anxiety.