The Role of Personality in Organizational Life: Issues and Evidence

Abstract

This article is a selective review of important issues, themes, and topics regarding the effects of personality on organizational behavior. Recent literature on the impact of personality on job attitudes and affective states at work is reviewed. Two traits, positive affectivity and negative affectivity, are presented as the key dispositional determinants of affective reactions at work. Criticisms of the dispositional approach are addressed and the integrative perspective of interactional psychology is discussed. The distinction between traits and states is explained and it is shown how states mediate the effects of traits on behavior with states essentially capturing the person-situation interaction. Theorizing and research on person-environment fit, a complementary perspective on person-situation interactions, is discussed, followed by a discussion of the links between personality and three organizationallyrelevant outcomes: prosocial behavior, effort and performance, and leadership. Finally, the links between two personality traits, negative affectivity and the Type A behavior pattern, and work-related distress are elucidated.