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Predicting the form and direction of work
role performance from the Big 5 model of
personality traits
ANDREW NEAL
1
*, GILLIAN YEO
2
, ANNETTE KOY
1
AND TANIA XIAO
1
1
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
2
The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Summary This research examined the prediction of the form and direction of work role performance from the Big 5
model of personality traits. Nine dimensions of work role performance are created by cross-classifying the
form of work role behavior (proficient, adaptive, and proactive) with the level at which that behavior
contributes to effectiveness (individual, team, and organizational). The authors collected self-report
measurements of personality from 1447 government employees and supervisor ratings of performance.
Openness to experience and agreeableness had opposing effects on individual proactivity – openness was
positively related, whereas agreeableness was negatively related to this dimension. Openness to experience
also had opposing effects on the form of work role performance – it was positively related to individual and
organizational proactivity but negatively related to team and organizational proficiency. Conscientiousness
was a stronger predictor of individual task proficiency than the remaining eight dimensions, whereas the
reverse was true for neuroticism. Extraversion was negatively related to individual proficiency. Using a broad
taxonomy of performance that incorporates a theoretical framework for distinguishing between constructs
shows promise for identifying which personality traits are important for which aspects of work role
performance. Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: job performance; personality; work roles; proactivity; adaptivity
Introduction
Changes to the nature of work over the past 30 years have broadened the types of role behaviors that organizations
require to be effective (Ilgen & Pulakos, 1999). Traditionally, work roles have been defined in terms of a set of tasks
that the individual has to perform, and performance has been assessed in terms of the proficiency with which
individuals carry out those tasks (Campbell, Dunnette, Lawler, & Weick, 1970; Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, & Sager,
1993). As work systems have become more complex and uncertain, work roles have become more flexible. As a
result, other forms of behavior have emerged as important for the modern workplace, two of the most prominent
being adaptivity (Allworth & Hesketh, 1999; Hesketh & Neal, 1999; Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, & Plamondon, 2000)
and proactivity (Crant, 2000; Frese, Kring, Soose, & Zempel, 1996; Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006). The ability to
adapt to, and initiate, changes in work has become increasingly important as organizations have come to rely on
flexible work roles (Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1991; Murphy & Jackson, 1999).
There has been considerable interest in identifying the personality traits that may predict individual differences
in adaptivity and proactivity at work (LePine, Colquitt, & Erez, 2000; Parker & Collins, 2010; Parker et al., 2006;
Pulakos, Schmitt, Dorsey, Arad, Hedge, & Borman, 2002). However, progress has been limited by a number of
Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.742
* Correspondence to: Andrew Neal, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail: andrew@psy.uq.edu.au
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 10 September 2009
Revised 22 November 2010, Accepted 30 November 2010
factors. First, there has been a tendency to focus on these constructs in isolation, so it is not clear whether the effects
of personality traits are specific to that performance construct, or generalize across the performance domain. Second,
adaptivity and proactivity overlap with existing constructs, such as task performance and citizenship performance
(Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007). As Rotundo and ASackett (2002) noted, there has been a proliferation of partially
overlapping constructs within the performance literature. The development of the Big Five model of personality
traits (Goldberg, 1990) has provided a commonly accepted taxonomy for classifying personality scales. The absence
of an equivalent taxonomy for classifying performance constructs has been repeatedly identified as a barrier to
progress towards a better understanding of the relationship between personality and performance (Barrick, Mount,
& Judge, 2001; Campbell, 1990; Guion & Gottier, 1965; Hogan & Holland, 2003).
Griffin et al. (2007) recently developed an integrative taxonomy of performance constructs. Using role theory
(Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1991), they developed a nine-factor model that integrates adaptivity and proactivity with
existing performance constructs, such as task and citizenship performance (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993; Smith,
Organ, & Near, 1983). The goal of this paper is to develop and test a model describing the relationship between
personality traits and the nine factor model of work role performance. We integrate role theory with trait activation
theory to consider how the direction and form of work role performance can be predicted from the Big Five.
Work Role Performance
The term ‘‘work role’’ refers to the performance responsibilities an individual has at work (Murphy & Jackson,
1999). Griffin et al. (2007) proposed nine dimensions of work role performance by cross-classifying three forms
of behavior (proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity) with three levels at which behaviors can contribute to
effectiveness (individual, team, and organizational). The authors argued that different forms of role behavior are
required in different situations. ‘‘Proficiency’’ describes the extent to which an individual meets the formal
requirements of his or her role. ‘‘Adaptivity’’ describes the extent to which an individual adapts to changes in work
systems or roles, and ‘‘proactivity’’describes the extent to which an individual takes self-directed action to anticipate
or initiate change in work systems or roles. Adaptivity and proactivity are important forms of behavior when there
is uncertainty in inputs, processes or outputs, because it is difficult to formalize the requirements of work roles
under these circumstances. Most occupations require a mixture of proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity.
Griffin et al. (2007) argued that each form of role behavior has the potential to contribute to effectiveness
at different levels within the organization. We refer to the level at which behavior contributes to effectiveness as
the ‘‘direction’’ of work role performance. Individual task proficiency involves meeting the requirements of one’s
role as an individual employee, while team and organizational proficiency involve meeting the requirements of one’s
role as a member of a team or organization. Team requirements could include helping other team members or
coordinating their activities (LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, & Saul, 2008). Organizational requirements could
include participating in committees or speaking favorably about the organization to stakeholders (Podsakoff,
MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000). Individual task adaptivity involves adapting to changes that affect one’s role
as an individual, whereas team and organizational adaptivity involve adapting to changes that affect one’s role as
a member of a team or organization. Individual task proactivity involves initiating changes within one’s role,
whereas team and organizational proactivity involve initiating changes in the team or organization.
The taxonomy of work role performance developed by Griffin et al. (2007) builds on existing performance
frameworks, most notably the distinction between task and citizenship performance developed by Borman and
Motowidlo (1993) and refined by Borman, Penner, Allen and Motowidlo (2001). Task performance is defined as ‘‘the
proficiency with which job incumbents perform activities that are formally recognized as part of their jobs ..., and
contribute to the organization’s technical core’’ (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993, p. 73). The concept of task
performance, therefore, directly corresponds to the concept of individual task proficiency in the Griffin et al.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
taxonomy. Citizenship performance is defined as activities that ‘‘support the organizational, social, and psychologic
environment in which the technical core must function’’ (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993, p. 73). Borman et al. (2001)
identified three components of citizenship performance: personal support, organizational support, and conscientious
initiative. The concepts of personal support and organizational support correspond to the concepts of team
proficiency and organizational proficiency. The concept of conscientious initiative incorporates elements of
individual task proactivity (e.g., demonstrating initiative), but also involves compliance with expectations regarding
one’s individual work role (e.g., working hard). The Griffin et al. taxonomy removes this confound by differentiating
proficiency from proactivity, thereby addressing one of the major criticisms of the organizational citizenship
literature, namely that it emphasizes passive rather than proactive behavior (Parker, 1998). Griffin et al. go further by
introducing adaptivity, which has proven to be difficult to integrate within the task-citizenship framework because it
does not fit into a mutually exclusive category (Schmitt, Cortina, Ingenck, & Wickman, 2003). It is the matrix
structure that allows this integration, as it recognizes that task and citizenship behaviors can be carried out by varying
degrees of proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity.
Predicting Work Role Performance from Personality
In this section, we integrate trait-activation theory (Tett & Burnett, 2003) with role theory (Ilgen & Hollenbeck,
1991; Katz & Kahn, 1978) to derive hypotheses regarding relationships among the Big Five personality traits and
the nine dimensions of work role performance. According to trait activation theory, personality traits represent
a propensity to behave in an identifiable way, and are expressed in response to cues in the work environment.
According to role theory (Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1991), role senders (e.g., managers, supervisors, customers, and
coworkers) provide these cues in the form of expectations regarding behavior. Tett and Burnett (2003) identify three
sources of cues that correspond to the directions of work-role behavior in Griffin et al’s (2007) taxonomy: the
individual’s task; the team; and the organization. Trait activation theory suggests that personality traits influence
the way that role incumbents respond to these cues. For example, an individual with high conscientiousness
may respond to the expectations associated with their individual work role by working hard and persisting in the face
of adversity, whereas someone with low conscientiousness may give up easily. An individual with high levels of
agreeableness may respond to the expectations associated with their role as a member of a team by helping their
colleagues, whereas someone with low levels of agreeableness may be more likely to withhold assistance.
We extend this account by arguing that expectations regarding the form of behavior that is required in a work role
should also cue the expression of personality traits. For example, an individual with high openness to experience may
respond to expectations regarding adaptivity by willingly following new procedures and to expectations regarding
proactivity by developing improved work methods; whereas someone with low openness to experience may resist
change or maintain the status quo by continuing with traditional methods of working.
If a personality trait influences the way that employees respond to role senders’ expectations regarding
the direction and form of behavior that is required in a given work role, then we should observe a correlation between
that particular trait and supervisors’ ratings of performance in that particular work role. In the sections below, we
develop a series of hypotheses regarding the links between personality traits and specific dimensions of work
role performance (see Figure 1). We start with openness, agreeableness, and extraversion. Meta-analyses have
demonstrated that these three traits have the lowest true score correlation with overall job performance (Barrick
& Mount, 1991; Barrick et al., 2001). Barrick et al. (2001) noted, however, that the absence of an adequate
performance taxonomy may have obscured meaningful relationships involving these traits. We conclude with the
two traits that have consistently been found to predict overall job performance, namely conscientiousness
and neuroticism.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
Openness to experience
Openness to experience is a propensity to be imaginative, broad-minded, and curious (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Tett and Burnett (2003) argued that this trait is likely to be expressed when there is an opportunity for an individual
to be creative and contribute to a culture of innovation, or is expected to learn new ways of doing things and accept
others’ ideas. This argument is consistent with the belief that openness should influence how employees respond under
conditions of uncertainty (Griffin & Hesketh, 2004; Thoresen, Bradley, Bliese, & Thoresen, 2004), because such
conditions are characterized by changes in systems, processes, or structures. It follows that openness should predict
adaptivity and proactivity because these forms of behavior are important when there is uncertainty in inputs, processes,
or outputs (Griffin et al., 2007). The response of an individual to expectations regarding these forms of behavior should
vary according to their level of openness. For example, a propensity to be broad-minded may predispose employees to
adapt to changes in their work roles, while creativity and intellectual curiosity may predispose employees to initiate
change. These behaviors should positively influence supervisors’ evaluationsof the extent towhich the individual fulfils
the requirements of their role, which should be reflected in supervisors’ ratings of adaptivity and proactivity.
Researchers have started to examine the relationship between openness and adaptivity, however, the results
from this body of literature are not yet conclusive. Three studies have reported significant positive correlations
between openness and adaptivity. Thoresen et al. (2004) found that openness predicted sales performance for
employees who carried out non-routine sales tasks, but not for employees who carried out routine sales tasks. Judge,
Thoresen, Pucik, and Welbourne (1999) found that openness predicted coping with change in a managerial sample.
In a laboratory study, LePine et al. (2000) found that openness predicted adaptability to changing task demands.
Furthermore, meta-analytic results show that openness predicts training success, which is an indicator of adaptivity
(Barrick & Mount, 1991). On the other hand, two studies have reported positive, but non-significant, correlations
between openness and adaptivity (Allworth & Hesketh, 1999; Pulakos et al., 2002). The balance of evidence across
theory and existing studies suggests the following hypothesis:
Figure 1. Hypothesized model
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
Hypothesis 1: Openness to experience positively predicts adaptivity and proactivity.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness is a propensity to be cooperative, courteous, and tolerant (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Tett and Burnett
(2003) argued that this trait is likely to be expressed when an individual works in a team and has to rely on others, or
has the opportunity to carry out citizenship activities that benefit the organization as a whole. That is, agreeableness
should influence the way that people interpret and respond to the actions of others. Individuals with high levels of
agreeableness should respond to these cues by cooperating with coworkers, helping other members of the
organization, and adapting to changes in the social context.
In terms of the direction of work role performance, the preceding arguments suggest that agreeableness should
predict behaviors that contribute to team or organizational effectiveness. With regard to the form of work role
performance, there are grounds for believing that agreeableness may inhibit proactivity. Tett and Burnett (2003)
argued that people with high levels of agreeableness are likely to conform to group norms. LePine and Van Dyne
(2001) argued that individuals with high agreeableness are unlikely to engage in proactive behavior, because they
prefer to conform with established ways of doing things and support the status quo. If so, then agreeableness should
exert opposing effects on the form and direction of work roles. These arguments suggest the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Agreeableness positively predicts team proficiency, team adaptivity, organizational proficiency,
and organizational adaptivity; but negatively predicts individual proactivity.
Extraversion
Extraversion is a propensity to be sociable, gregarious, and assertive (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Tett and Burnett (2003)
argued that this trait is likely to be cued when there is a requirement to interact with other people and work in a team.
Individuals with high levels of extraversion should respond by building effective interpersonal relations with people at
work, and generating energy and cohesion. These arguments suggest that extraversion should predict behaviors that
contribute to team effectiveness. However, results have been inconsistent. Borman et al. (2001) reviewed the results from
seven studies examining the link between extraversion and citizenship performance, and concluded that there was no
consistent relationship, possibly because of differences in jobs across the studies. For example, Neuman and Kickul
(1998) found that extraversion was negatively related to citizenship performance in a sample of jewelry sales clerks,
whereas McManus and Kelly (1999) found a positive relationship in a sample of insurance representatives. Borman et al.
suggested that in highly structured jobs, extraversion may detract from citizenship. On the other hand, they concluded
that, across the 48 studies included in the meta-analyses they reviewed, extraversion positively predicted teamwork. On
balance, the bulk of theoretical and empirical evidence suggests the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: Extraversion positively predicts team proficiency, team adaptivity, and team proactivity.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness reflects a propensity to be dependable and to strive for achievement (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Tett and Burnett (2003) argued that all jobs provide cues for the expression of dependability and achievement, but
that there may be variability in the way this trait predicts performance. We believe that conscientiousness should
be a stronger predictor of individual task proficiency than the remaining eight dimensions of work role performance.
Turning first to the form of work role performance, Tett and Burnett (2003) argued that expectations for
detailed, precise work, and for compliance with rules, deadlines and quality standards, cue the expression of
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
conscientiousness. These arguments suggest that conscientiousness should be a stronger predictor of proficiency
than of adaptivity and proactivity because the cues that Tett and Burnett identified relate to the expectations of
role senders regarding behavior and performance standards (Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1991; Katz & Kahn, 1978),
that is, task proficiency. Employees who are dependable and achievement oriented should be more likely to
expend the effort required to meet and exceed expectations than their counterparts. These efforts should positively
influence supervisors’ evaluations of the extent to which the individual fulfils the requirements of their role,
which should be reflected most strongly in supervisors’ ratings of task proficiency.
Turning next to the direction of work role performance, we believe conscientiousness should be a stronger
predictor of individual task proficiency than team or organizational proficiency. Tett and Burnett (2003) identified
a range of factors at the team and organizational level that may cue conscientiousness. At the team level, these include
expectations for team members to be responsible and dependable, and for precise and explicit communication.
At the organizational level, they include expectations for success and loyalty. However, Griffin et al. (2007) argued that
the requirements for team and organization member roles are generally articulated less clearly than the requirements for
individual work roles. If so, the tasks that employees perform in their role as an individual should be predicted more
strongly by conscientiousness than the tasks they perform in their role as a member of a team or organization.
These arguments may appear to contradict the view that conscientiousness is a stronger predictor of citizenship
performance than task performance (Borman et al., 2001) or that it is an equal predictor of both performance criteria
(Hurtz & Donovan, 2000). However, many studies that have examined the relationship between conscientiousness
and citizenship performance have used measures of citizenship that incorporate dedication or compliance (Hattrup,
O’Connell, & Wingate, 1998; McHenry, Hough, Toquam, Hanson, & Ashworth, 1990; Motowidlo & Van Scotter,
1994), which may explain why conscientiousness has predicted these measures. In combination, these arguments
suggest the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4: Conscientiousness positively predicts all nine dimensions of work role performance; however, it is
a stronger predictor of individual task proficiency than the remaining eight dimensions.
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is characterized by a predisposition toward negative cognitions, intrusive thoughts, and emotional
reactivity (Smillie, Yeo, Furnham, & Jackson, 2006). This trait is thought to reflect a generalized way of responding
across situations because it is a predisposition to interpret personally relevant stimuli as a potential threat, and to
react emotionally (Burke, Brief, & George, 1993; Watson & Clark, 1984). Therefore, we argue that all nine work
roles should cue the expression of neuroticism. If an individual is high in neuroticism, the processes of trying to meet
the requirements of one’s role, adapting to change, or initiating change each could cue negative cognitions and
emotions, which should be detrimental to performance. Similarly, working on one’s own tasks, or carrying out
one’s role as a member of a team or organization could cue negative cognitions and emotions. Consistent with these
claims, Tett and Burnett (2003) identified a range of factors that may cue the expression of neuroticism, including
high levels of responsibility, lack of control, high levels of risk, interpersonal conflict, organizational restructuring,
uncertainty, and external threats (e.g., sliding profits). These arguments suggest the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 5: Neuroticism negatively predicts all nine dimensions of work role performance.
In summary, we expect that (a) openness to experience will positively predict adaptivity and proactivity at all
levels, (b) agreeableness will positively predict proficiency and adaptivity at the team and organizational levels
but negatively predict individual proactivity, (c) extraversion will positively predict team performance, (d)
conscientiousness will positively predict all performance dimensions with the strongest link being to individual
proficiency, and (e) neuroticism will negatively predict all performance dimensions.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
Methods
Participants
Australian government staff and their supervisors participated in this research. Twenty-seven thousand six hundred
and forty-one surveys were distributed to staff. Six thousand one hundred and twenty-eight staff members completed
the survey, which represents a response rate of 22.17 per cent.
1
We received 1447 supervisor surveys,
which represents a response rate of 23.61 per cent, however, 72 of these staff-supervisor pairs could not be used due
to non-unique identifier codes or blank staff and/or supervisor surveys, yielding a final sample size of 1375. These
1375 staff-supervisor pairs represented 1139 unique supervisors – the majority of which (84.4 per cent) rated only
one staff member. 12.2 per cent of the supervisors rated two staff members and the remaining 3.4 per cent rated
between three and seven staff members.
The 1375 staff members with matched supervisor data were used to test the hypotheses. This group did not differ
significantly from the remaining 4753 staff members on personality or demographic variables. Most staff members
were female (79.5 per cent) and 20.4 per cent were male (0.1 per cent unspecified). The mean age of participants was
39.05 years (SD ¼10.49 years) and the average participant had been working in his or her current role for 47.50
months (SD ¼54.24 months). Administrative staff (e.g., receptionists, project officers) comprised 86.8 per cent
of the sample and operational staff (e.g., technicians and gardeners) comprised 10 per cent of the sample (3.2 per cent
unspecified). The highest level of education for the majority of participants was high school level (23.6 per cent
to year 10; and 23.4 per cent to year 12).
Procedure
Electronic survey
Staff members with web access were sent an electronic version of the survey. Directors-General sent two broadcast
emails notifying staff members of the upcoming study. The research team sent personalized emails to staff with a
URL link to the staff survey. Staff members were given 3 weeks to complete the survey. Three reminder emails were
sent (2 weeks, 1 week, and 1 day before the deadline). On completion of the electronic survey, staff members were
asked to send their supervisor an email requesting him or her to complete an electronic survey regarding the staff
member’s work behavior. Staff were asked to enter their own name, supervisor’s name and supervisor’s email
address. A personalized email was sent to supervisors with a URL link to the supervisor survey. The staff member’s
identification code was automatically recorded with the supervisor’s responses for matching purposes.
Paper–pencil survey
Staff members without web access were sent a paper–pencil version of the staff and supervisor surveys. A cover
letter asked staff members to give the supervisor survey to their supervisor. Staff were asked to write their own name
and own identification code on the supervisor’s survey and hand-deliver the supervisor survey and a reply paid
envelope to the supervisor. Supervisors were asked to tear off the section with the staff member’s name (and give
it back to the staff member) prior to posting the survey back to the research team.
As an incentive, all staff members who completed an electronic or paper–pencil survey were giventhe opportunity
to enter a draw to win one of fifty double movie passes.
1
Note that the total staff response rate was 28.28 per cent when one agency with a response rate of less than 10 per cent was excluded. For this
agency, a survey package was sent to a contact person and he or she was required to photocopy and distribute the appropriate numbers of surveys.
We cannot be certain that all 7444 of this agency’s eligible staff received a survey.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
Measures
Control variables
We controlled for gender, age, education level, and tenure (number of months in current role) based on past research
indicating that these variables can influence supervisor ratings of performance (Ferris, Yates, Gilmore, & Rowland,
1985; Furnham & Stringfield, 2001; Liden, Stilwell, & Ferris, 1996).
Personality
Goldberg’s International Personality Item Pool (IPIP; Goldberg, 1999) was included in the staff survey. This measure
is based on the five-factor model of personality and has been demonstrated to have sound reliability (coefficient
alphas range from 0.79 to 0.87) and convergent and discriminant validity with other personality scales such as the
NEO-FFI (Goldberg, 1999; Lim & Ployhart, 2006). Each scale is designed to measure the full factor (rather than sub-
facets) with ten items. Examples include: ‘‘I feel comfortable around people’’ (extraversion); ‘‘I have a soft heart’’
(agreeableness); ‘‘I pay attention to details’’ (conscientiousness); ‘‘I worry about things,’’ (neuroticism) and ‘‘I have
a vivid imagination’’ (openness to experience). Participants responded on a scale ranging from 1 (very inaccurate)to
5(very accurate). Alpha reliabilities ranged from 0.66 to 0.87 (see Table 1).
Performance
Supervisor ratings of the nine performance dimensions were measured with Griffin et al’s (2007) work role
performance measure. Results from three samples provided support for the nine-factor structure and individuals’
abilities to distinguish among the dimensions; and reliabilities were sound (ranging from 0.67 to 0.92; Griffin et al.,
2007). Each dimension is measured with three items except team proficiency which is measured by five items.
Examples include: ‘‘ensured tasks were completed properly’’ (individual task proficiency), ‘‘responded
constructively to changes in the way his/her team works’’ (team adaptivity) and ‘‘came up with ways of increasing
efficiency within the organization’’ (organizational proactivity). Supervisors rated the frequency that the given
staff member demonstrated each indicator of performance over the past month on a scale ranging from 1 (very little)
to 5 (a great deal). Alpha reliabilities ranged from 0.91 to 0.96 (see Table 1).
Results
Descriptive statistics, zero order correlations, and reliability estimates are presented in Table 1. Our data are nested
because some supervisors rated more than one staff member. Given that ratings by the same supervisor are likely
to be more similar than those made by different raters, we used multilevel modeling (HLM; Raudenbush & Bryk,
2002) to control for the hierarchical data structure (Lahuis & Avis, 2007). This technique specifies individuals at
the lowest level of analysis (Level 1) who are nested within supervisors at a higher level of analysis (Level 2).
2
Where
relevant, we tested the significance of the difference between two or more coefficient estimates. In each case
we first assessed the overlap between the relevant confidence intervals. Non-overlap between pairs of confidence
intervals indicates that the two parameters are statistically significant, yet overlap does not necessarily indicate
statistical non-significance (Goldstein & Healy, 1995; Payton, Greenstone, & Schenker, 2003; Schenker &
2
Note, however, that although the multilevel structure controls for the nested data structure, the Level 2 variability is likely to be inflated due to the
disproportionate number of supervisors who only rated 1 staff member (84.4 per cent). That is, some of the variability that exists across those
supervisors may simply be due to variability across staff members. For this reason, we do not report intra-class correlation coefficients (the
proportion of variability in the dependent variables that exists at the group level and the proportion of that variance component that is systematic
rather than error) or effect sizes related to Level 2 variance. However, this is not a problem for the interpretation of our results because our
hypotheses do not concern any Level 2 predictors.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
Gentleman, 2001; Tryon, 2001). In the case of overlap between the relevant confidence intervals, we conducted a
structural equation model of the five personality dimensions predicting all nine performance subdimensions and
followed Griffin et al’s (2007) equality constraints approach to assess the difference between coefficient estimates
via alternative constrained models.
First, we ran a separate model for each of the nine performance dimensions, which included the four control
variables as fixed effects. As shown in Table 2, the control variables explained between 6.18 per cent and 11.86 per
cent of the Level 1 variance in performance dimensions.
Next, we introduced the five personality dimensions as fixed effects. These results are shown in Table 3.
Hypothesis 1 predicts that openness to experience positively relates to adaptivity and proactivity. Openness to
experience did not predict adaptivity at any level, however it was positively related to proactivity at the individual
(b¼0.14, t(1258) ¼2.13, p<.05) and organizational (b¼0.13, t(1251) ¼2.01, p<.05) levels. Unexpectedly, this
personality trait was also negatively related to team (b¼0.11, t(1255) ¼2.10, p<.05) and organizational
(b¼0.12, t(1251) ¼2.12, p<.05) proficiency. The confidence intervals for these two sets of effects did not
overlap suggesting that the positive links between openness and proactivity were significantly different from the
negative links between openness and proficiency.
Hypothesis 2 predicts that agreeableness positively relates to proficiency and adaptivity at the team and
organizational levels; and negatively relates to individual task proactivity. As expected, agreeableness was
negatively related to individual task proactivity (b¼0.13, t(1258) ¼2.26, p<.05). However, agreeableness was
not related to proficiency or adaptivity at any level.
Tests of Hypotheses 1 and 2 revealed that openness to experience was negatively related to individual proactivity
whereas agreeableness was positively related to this performance dimension. The confidence intervals for these two
coefficients did not overlap suggesting that the effects were significantly different from each other.
Hypothesis 3 predicts that extraversion positively relates to team proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity. Contrary
to this hypothesis, extraversion was unrelated to team proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity. Unexpectedly,
extraversion was negatively related individual task proficiency (b¼0.08, t(1258) ¼2.61, p<.01).
Hypothesis 4 predicts that conscientiousness positively relates to all dimensions of work role performance, but
that it is a stronger predictor of individual task proficiency than the other eight dimensions. Consistent with
Hypothesis 4, conscientiousness was positively related to all dimensions of work role performance and the
coefficient estimate for the link between conscientiousness and individual proficiency was larger than any other
coefficient (b¼0.21, t(1258) ¼5.18, p<.001). As can be seen from Table 3, the confidence intervals for these
effects overlapped. For this reason, we used structural equation modeling to test whether the effects were distinct. We
used equality constraints to assess two alternative constrained models in which the path from conscientiousness to
individual task proficiency was set equal to paths between conscientiousness and other subdimensions.
3
First, we
tested whether the path from conscientiousness to individual task proficiency was equal to the conscientiousness
paths involving individual proactivity and individual adaptivity. This constraint resulted in a significant decrease in
model fit (Dx
2
[2,n¼1225] ¼11.82, p<.01). Second, we tested whether the path from conscientiousness to
individual task proficiency was equal to the conscientiousness paths involving team proficiency and organizational
proficiency. This constraint also resulted in a significant decrease in model fit (Dx
2
[2,n¼1225] ¼10.40, p<.01).
Therefore, Hypothesis 4 was supported.
Hypothesis 5 predicts that neuroticism negatively relates to all dimensions of work role performance. This
hypothesis was supported. It is worth noting that the coefficient for neuroticism !individual task proficiency
(0.07) is smaller than all other neuroticism coefficients (which range from 0.12 to 0.19). Inspection of the
relative confidence intervals indicated that although its lower confidence interval estimate did not overlap with any of
the other neuroticism estimates, the upper estimate did overlap with the eight other performance dimensions.
Therefore, we used structural equation modeling with equality constraints to assess two alternative constrained
models in which the path from neuroticism to individual task proficiency was set equal to paths between neuroticism
3
Full details of the SEM analysis can be obtained from the authors.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
Table 1. Descriptive statistics, zero-order correlations, and reliability estimates
MSD 123456789101112131415161718
1. Gender 0.8 0.4 —
2. Age 39.05 10.49 0.14 —
3. Education level 3.65 3.38 0.08 0.17 —
4. Tenure 47.50 54.24 0.08 0.36 0.15 —
5. Openness 3.35 0.47 0.14 0.10 0.23 0.07 0.66
6. Agreeableness 4.03 0.55 0.16 0.07 0.02 0.04 0.26 0.83
7. Extraversion 3.09 0.73 0.01 0.10 0.11 0.10 0.39 0.34 0.88
8. Conscientiousness 3.91 0.56 0.15 0.15 0.02 0.06 0.19 0.39 0.08 0.81
9. Neuroticism 3.53 0.48 0.04 0.13 0.03 0.02 0.12 0.24 0.24 0.26 0.87
10. Ind proficiency 4.26 0.73 0.14 0.02 0.04 0.04 0.07 0.03 0.09 0.18 0.07 0.93
11. Team proficiency 4 0.83 0.13 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.07 0.08 0.02 0.12 0.12 0.70 0.92
12. Org proficiency 3.85 0.88 0.14 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.06 0.09 0.01 0.13 0.14 0.58 0.71 0.91
13. Ind proactivity 3.75 0.99 0.07 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.06 0.00 0.02 0.12 0.08 0.64 0.65 0.56 0.94
14. Team proactivity 3.69 0.99 0.08 0.02 0.06 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.13 0.08 0.63 0.73 0.60 0.88 0.96
15. Org proactivity 3.56 1.02 0.08 0.01 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.11 0.08 0.58 0.67 0.66 0.79 0.84 0.94
16. Ind adaptivity 4.07 0.82 0.10 0.12 0.04 0.07 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.09 0.12 0.75 0.69 0.59 0.69 0.68 0.64 0.93
17. Team adaptivity 3.96 0.86 0.11 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.06 0.01 0.12 0.15 0.68 0.82 0.68 0.70 0.75 0.70 0.82 0.93
18. Org adaptivity 3.88 0.86 0.10 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.14 0.14 0.63 0.74 0.78 0.64 0.68 0.71 0.76 0.84 0.95
Ind, individual; Org, organizational.
Note: Diagonal entries are scale reliabilities.
r>0.05 sig at p<.05. r>0.07 sig at p<.01. r>0.09 sig at p<.001.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
and other subdimensions. First, we tested whether the path from neuroticism to individual task proficiency was
equal to the neuroticism paths involving individual proactivity and individual adaptivity.
4
This constraint resulted
in a significant decrease in model fit (Dx
2
[2,n¼1225] ¼9.57, p<.01). Second, we tested whether the
path from neuroticism to individual task proficiency was equal to the neuroticism paths involving team proficiency
and organizational proficiency. This constraint also resulted in a significant decrease in model fit
(Dx
2
[2,n¼1225] ¼10.85, p<.01). These analyses suggest that the neuroticism !individual task proficiency
path was significantly weaker than the paths from neuroticism to other subdimensions.
Discussion
We observed a differential pattern of relationships among the Big 5 personality traits and the nine dimensions of
work role performance. In some cases the effects were different to what we hypothesized. We show how these
findings, in combination, can be interpreted within our integrated framework of trait activation and role theories
and simultaneously highlight potential extensions and boundary conditions.
Theoretical implications and extensions
Openness to experience had opposing effects on the form of work role performance. As expected, it was
positively related to proactivity, although only at the individual and organizational levels. These results suggest that
a propensity to be creative, broad minded, and curious expresses itself at work in the form of self-directed behaviors
designed to initiate change in one’s own work role or the broader organization. Unexpectedly, openness was
negatively related to team and organizational proficiency. These results suggest that openness may inhibit
cooperative behaviors at work that are expected by coworkers, supervisors, and managers. These findings can be
interpreted in relation to the concepts of ‘‘getting ahead’’ and ‘‘getting along’’ (Hogan & Holland, 2003). On
the one hand, openness appears to be useful in situations where the individual needs to initiate change, but on the
other hand, it may be a hindrance in situations where the individual needs to comply with the expectations of others
concerning the way that they interact with their team and organization.
As expected, agreeableness was negatively related to individual proactivity. In contrast to openness, this finding
suggests that a propensity to be cooperative, trusting, and compassionate appears to inhibit behaviors that challenge
Table 2. Control variable !performance coefficient estimates
Proficiency Proactivity Adaptivity
Ind Team Org Ind Team Org Ind Team Org
Gender .26
.28
.30
.21
.23
.23
.18
.22
.21
Age .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .01
.00 .00
Education level .00 .00 .00 .02
.02
.02
.01 .01 .01
Tenure .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00
% Variance explained
a
6.18 11.00 11.31 6.30 9.93 11.86 8.89 10.88 10.34
a
Figures represent the unique level 1 variance explained by the block of four control variables.
p<.05.
p<.01.
p<.001.
4
Note that the neuroticism !individual proficiency path was not significant in the SEM analysis, whereas it was significant in the HLM analysis.
Full details of these analyses are available from the authors.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
Table 3. Personality !performance coefficient estimates and confidence intervals
Proficiency Proactivity Adaptivity
Ind Team Org Ind Team Org Ind Team Org
Openness 0.07
(0.162,
0.027)
.11
(0.219,
0.007)
.12
(0.230,
0.009)
.14
(0.011,
0.272)
0.1
(0.028,
0.225)
.13
(0.003,
0.265)
0.02
(0.104,
0.087)
0.014
(0.125,
0.097)
0.03
(0.139,
0.074)
Agreeableness 0.04
(0.123,
0.051)
0.04
(0.058,
0.141)
0.05
(0.054,
0.152)
.13
(0.254,
0.018)
0.08
(0.195,
0.043)
0.11
(0.227,
0.012)
0.01
(0.104,
0.087)
0.03
(0.132,
0.076)
0.04
(0.146,
0.056)
Extraversion .08
(0.143,
0.020)
0.03
(0.103,
0.044)
0.02
(0.098,
0.054)
0.07
(0.148,
0.018)
0.07
(0.153,
0.012)
0.05
(0.130,
0.041)
0.04
(0.106,
0.030)
0.04
(0.110,
0.038)
0.04
(0.116,
0.031)
Conscientiousness .21
(0.129,
0.285)
.10
(0.008,
0.181)
.11
(0.018,
0.197)
.19
(0.076,
0.299)
.18
(0.069,
0.290)
.17
(0.030,
0.246)
.10
(0.014,
0.181)
.13
(0.034,
0.215)
.15
(0.061,
0.246)
Neuroticism .07
(0.005,
0.133)
.12
(0.053,
0.194)
.16
(0.089,
0.238)
.13
(0.043,
0.208)
.12
(0.040,
0.209)
.13
(0.042,
0.214)
.16
(0.093,
0.234)
.19
(0.112,
0.258)
.17
(0.099,
0.247)
% Variance
explained
a
3.35 1.35 2.79 1.87 0.78 1.51 3.12 3.33 2.32
Note: These coefficient estimates are based on models that included the four control variables. Numbers in the upper rows are coefficientestimates (unstandardized regression weights).
Numbers in the lower rows are lower and upper confidence interval estimates, respectively.
Figures represent the unique level 1 variance explained by the block of five personality variables beyond the four control variables.
p<.05.
p<.01. p<.001.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
existing role definitions. This finding is consistent with arguments emphasizing the passive nature of agreeableness
(LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). Contrary to expectations, we did not find evidence to suggest that agreeableness
is associated with higher levels of team or organizational proficiency and adaptivity.
Extraversion was not related to work role performance in the manner we expected. We expected that extraversion
would predict behaviors that contribute to team effectiveness at each level. These three effects were not significant.
It is possible that the highly structured nature of work performed by administrative employees inhibits the expression
of extraversion in social contexts (Borman et al., 2001). Further, extraversion was negatively related to individual
task proficiency. When extraversion is expressed in administrative settings, it may be viewed negatively by
supervisors, producing poorer evaluations of individual task proficiency. For example, government agencies are
generally characterized by a hierarchical power structure. The expression of extraversion may be viewed negatively
if it is interpreted as a desire to ‘‘get ahead’’ such as by being promoted ‘‘before their time.’’
As expected, conscientiousness and neuroticism predicted all dimensions of work role performance. This finding
is consistent with Barrick et al’s (2001) conclusion that the effects of these two traits generalize across criteria.
However, the effect of conscientiousness was the strongest for individual task proficiency. We predicted this result,
because conscientiousness reflects a tendency to be dependable and achieve goals. In work settings, this propensity
should be expressed as behavior that meets the expectations of supervisors, managers, coworkers, and customers.
These expectations tend to be most clearly articulated for one’s role as an individual within the organization. Indeed,
Griffin et al. (2007) found that role clarity was a stronger predictor of individual task proficiency than the other
performance dimensions. The fact that previous research examining the link between conscientiousness and
performance suggests that it is a stronger predictor of citizenship than task performance (Borman et al., 2001) or
an equal predictor of both (Hurtz & Donovan, 2000) underscores the importance of disentangling the form and
direction of work role performance when generating and testing predictions.
It is interesting that the parameter estimate for neuroticism was the weakest for individual task proficiency. Tett
and Burnett (2003) argued that role clarity, together with task consistency and predictability, may inhibit the
expression of neuroticism. Individual task proficiency is the dimension of work role performance where the effects of
these variables are most likely to be observed.
These findings contribute to the ongoing development of role theory (Griffin et al., 2007; Ilgen & Hollenbeck,
1991; Murphy & Jackson, 1999), and the search for traits that predict differences in performance (Tett & Burnett,
2003). First, whilst we found evidence that openness, agreeableness, and extraversion predicted specific types of
proficiency or proactivity, none of these traits predicted adaptivity. Conscientiousness and neuroticism were the only
factors that predicted adaptivity, suggesting that the personality predictors of adaptivity are indistinguishable
from those of general work performance (Barrick et al., 2001). This is consistent with previous studies, which have
had limited success in predicting adaptivity from personality traits (Van Iddekinge & Ployhart, 2008). One
explanation could be that supervisors are not good at rating adaptivity, because it is harder to observe than other
forms of behavior. However, Griffin et al. (2007) found that attitudes to organizational change uniquely predicted
adaptivity, suggesting that more proximal variables are predictive. This is consistent with findings from the selection
literature that highlight experience as a predictor of adaptivity (Allworth & Hesketh, 1999) and from the training
literature that identify factors such as knowledge and motivational constructs (self-evaluation activity, intrinsic
motivation, and self-efficacy) as the strongest predictors of adaptive transfer (e.g., Bell & Kozlowski, 2008).
Therefore, we suspect that broad personality traits are not good predictors of adaptivity, and that the search for
predictors of this work role dimension should focus on constructs such as attitudes, experience, and motivation.
Second, the results provide insight into the way that roles may evolve. Role theory suggests that roles develop
dynamically, as individuals respond to the expectations of role senders in different work situations, and as role
senders adjust those expectations in response. Roles are expected to develop in different ways for different people.
Our results suggest that personality trait profiles may influence this process. For example, employees who are high
in openness to experience and conscientiousness, and low in agreeableness and neuroticism, may respond
proactively in situations where there is uncertainty regarding the processes and procedures that they should use for
performing their tasks, by taking the initiative and working out how to do it themselves. Supervisors may respond
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
by giving these employees more autonomy, and providing greater opportunity for showing proactivity. As such,
these employees may experience an upward spiral in proactive performance whereas employees with the opposing
personality profile may experience a downward spiral. Growth mixture modeling techniques (Muthen & Muthen,
2000) could be used to predict latent classes of such trajectories as a function of personality profiles.
Limitations and boundary conditions
We acknowledge that the effect sizes reported in this paper are relatively small. However, a number of them are
larger than that reported in previous meta-analyses (Barrick et al., 2001). For example, the uncorrected regression
weights for openness to experience in our study varied between 0.14 (individual proactivity) to 0.12
(organizational proficiency). After correcting for restriction of range and measurement error in the predictor and
criterion, Barrick et al. (2001) found that the weighted average of meta-analytically derived validity coefficients for
openness to experience as a predictor of supervisor ratings of job performance was only 0.05. After performing the
same corrections on our coefficients, the validity of openness to experience as a predictor of individual, team, and
organizational proactivity was 0.24, 0.17, and 0.22, respectively, while the validity of openness to experience as
a predictor of individual, team, and organizational proficiency was 0.12, 0.19, and 0.20, respectively. These
values (with the exception of team proactivity) fall outside of the limits of the credibility values reported by Barrick
et al. (2001; 90 per cent CV 0.11, 0.21). These findings demonstrate the value of distinguishing between different
work roles when examining personality-performance relationships.
Further, utility analysis suggests that validity coefficients of the magnitude reported here can yield financial
benefits. Take, for example, the uncorrected coefficient of 0.14 between openness to experience and individual
proactivity. If a government invested US$50 per applicant to include a test of openness to experience in their selection
system with an expected selection ratio of only 0.25 (due to the global financial crisis) for the annual recruitment of 100
administrative public servants whose average salary is US$50000,
5
the estimated utility of this investment using the
Brogden–Cronbach–Glaser model (Brogden, 1949; Cronbach & Glaser, 1965; Mabon, 1994) is US$337 280. A break-even
analysis (Mabon, 1994) using these parameters suggests that as long as the cost of measuring openness to experience is less
than US$893 incorporating it into a selection system will enhance the utility of selection decisions. Given the large number
of people hired by federal and state governments around the world, the potential for payoffs is large.
The current study did not examine the situational factors that may moderate personality–performance relations,
and included a limited sample of jobs. Trait activation theory (Tett & Burnett, 2003) suggests that situational factors
cue the expression of personality traits at work, and as a result, the same trait may be expressed in different ways
in different contexts, or across different jobs. In terms of the magnitude of effects, for example, the expression of
agreeableness and extraversion may be most likely to be cued in jobs with a strong interpersonal focus such as
customer service officers or health professionals; and weak situations (e.g., jobs with high autonomy) may be more
likely to cue the expression of personality traits than strong situations (e.g., highly structured jobs; Tett & Burnett,
2003). There is also research suggesting that the direction of personality trait effects may differ across contexts.
For example, conscientiousness has been shown to relate negatively to creativity (similar to our conceptualization of
proactivity) for individuals who work under close supervisory monitoring and also have unsupportive co-workers
(Feist, 1998; George & Zhou, 2001; Walker, Koestner, & Hum, 1995).
More generally, one might question whether relationships between personality traits and ratings of work role
performance are meaningful given that they both refer to behaviors. For example, an anonymous reviewer wondered
whether openness to experience and adaptivity are only statistically related due to overlap in behavioral concepts.
Personality traits and ratings of work role performance are distinct, even if they refer to the same type of behavior,
because the former describe behavioral preferences and tendencies, whereas the latter reflect judgments regarding
behaviors that people engage in at work (Tett & Burnett, 2003). The case of openness and adaptivity is a relatively
5
All the estimates used to conduct this utility analysis were conservative. Please contact the authors for a detailed justification of these estimates.
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
A. NEAL ET AL.
clear example, because these constructs do not refer to the same behavior. Openness is defined as a propensity to be
imaginative, broad-minded, and curious, whereas adaptability is defined as the extent to which the individual adapts
to changes in work systems or roles.
The current study examined the predictive validity of the Big 5 at the construct level, rather than the facet level. It
is possible that one might obtain different results by examining specific facets within each personality trait, rather
than the trait as a whole. For example, Hogan and Holland (2003) have argued that openness can be split into
intellectance and school success and that extraversion can be split into ambition and sociability, each of which may
have different effects. Relationships among personality and performance can be examined at various levels of
bandwidth. Any combination has the potential to make a contribution to the literature, providing that the empirical
examination matches the research- or practice-oriented question. In this study, we were interested in whether the nine
dimensions of work role performance are differentially predicted by personality dimensions. We believed that a focus on
the Big 5 personality traits rather than facets represented the most sensible ‘‘next step’’ for theory development because it
allowed (a) the development of a comprehensive set of hypotheses while maintaining parsimony and (b) a relatively
straightforward extension of trait activation theory (which focuses on the Big 5) to consideration of both the direction
and form of work role performance. This reasoning is also consistent with Barrick et al’s (2001) point that prior to
establishing a framework that links personality facets to criterion constructs, more work is required to develop a
commonly accepted taxonomy of lower-level personality measures. In the meantime, our framework is useful for
understanding the effects of personality traits on performance and simultaneously provides a platform for generating
hypotheses regarding personality facets in subsequent stages of theory development.
Contributions and Conclusion
We believe this research makes a substantive contribution to the personality and performance literatures. Despite
Campbell’s (1990) call nearly two decades ago, efforts to establish the structure of performance constructs have lagged
behind similar efforts relating to personality. Our results support the convergent and divergent validity of Griffin et al’s
(2007) new taxonomy of work-role performance. In parallel, our results demonstrate that recommendations to generate
theory-driven personality-performance predictions from the criterion end (Bartram, 2005; Campbell, 1990; Hogan &
Holland, 2003) are useful for understanding differential relationships among these two sets of constructs. Finally, our
results contribute to the bandwidth debate, by providing further evidence that meaningful relationships can be observed
by examining multiple personality and performance dimensions at a relatively broad level. By using a taxonomy of
performance that not only integrates a broad range of performance constructs, but also provides a principled way of
differentiating among those constructs, we hope that the current paper can make a contribution to the ongoing
accumulation of knowledge regarding the relationship between personality and performance.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Linkage grant from the Australian Research Council (LP0209614).
Author biographies
Andrew Neal is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland. His research
focuses on the motivational and cognitive determinants of performance, safety and effectiveness at work. His work is
Copyright #2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/job
PREDICTING WORK ROLE PERFORMANCE
multidisciplinary, drawing on theory from I/O Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Human Factors and Cognitive
Science.
Gillian Yeo is an Associate Professor in the Business School at the University of Western Australia. Her research
examines dynamic self-regulatory processes related to motivation, emotion, learning and performance. This research
is conducted in the laboratory using medium fidelity micro-worlds; and in diverse field contexts (e.g., tertiary
education, public service, natural resources sector). Her work demonstrates that within-person self-regulatory
processes change over time and are influenced by individual differences and situational characteristics.
Annette Koy is an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland. Her PhD focused
on understanding the general mechanisms underlying learning and adaptive decision making. More broadly, her
research examines the complex and dynamic relationships among traits, states and performance. Annette is currently
working with industry across the areas of organisational change, leadership, employee engagement and perform-
ance.
Tania Xiao is a PhD student in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland. She is interested in
examining the dynamic structural determinants of coordination behaviour in complex sociotechnical systems. Her
current work involves field research in the healthcare domain and draws on theory from I/O Psychology, Cognitive
Systems Engineering and Human Factors.
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A. NEAL ET AL.
