The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Mediating Role of Attributional Style in the Relationship between Personality and Performance

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2005-06-27

Journal Title

Series/Report No.

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Previous research has shown that personality traits, specifically the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and affect, are significant predictors of job performance, including organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Organ & Ryan, 1995). However, some debate exists regarding which individual difference variables account for the most variance. The present study tests a causal model of counterproductive behavior by Martinko, Gundlach, and Douglas (2002) which proposes that individuals' attributions about workplace events act as mediators between personality and CWB. This model is also examined regarding its generalizability to OCB. One hundred and thirty-nine employees of a national senior care organization filled out self-report questionnaires regarding their personality. Subsequently, their immediate supervisors completed performance evaluations that included items addressing CWB and OCB. Structural equation modeling revealed that attributional style did not act as mediator between personality and CWB or OCB. In addition, none of the individual differences variables predicted CWB or OCB. A post hoc cluster analysis was used to examine the appropriateness of the scoring method used for attributional style. The implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.

Description

Keywords

personality, Big Five, counterproductive work behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, attributional style

Citation

Degree

MS

Discipline

Psychology

Collections