Understanding Person-Situation Dynamics at Work: Effects of Traits, States, and Situation Characteristics on Teaching Performance

Abstract

Research on person-situation dynamics has mostly focused on only the person or the situation in isolation in the prediction of outcomes and has relied on single rating sources. The current work examined simultaneously the effects of personality traits, personality states, situation characteristics, and trait × state as well as trait × situation interactions on teachers’ job performance using self-ratings and two types of other ratings. Twice daily during a 13- or 14-day experience sampling study, teachers’ personality states, situation characteristics, and job performance were rated by N = 173 teachers, N = 98 supervisors, and N = 1,295 students (69 classes). Results demonstrated main effects of personality traits, personality states, and situation characteristics on momentary job performance, with meaningful alignments between significant predictors (e.g., Extraversion and Positivity). With only one exception, no statistically significant interactions were found. Overall, these findings highlight that both personality and situation characteristics uniquely predict teaching performance.