Organizational commitment is influenced by personality

How committed you are to your organization is influenced by your personality, according to researchers from Australia. The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality describes personality with five main traits: Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability. Agreeableness was found to be positively related to organizational commitment whereas Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience had negative relationships with organizational commitment. These insights offer valuable inputs for employee selection and retention in organizations as they show, that some people are likely to be predisposed to have positive attitudes toward their employing organizations. Therefore, selection on all FFM traits can be important for obtaining and retaining committed employees in conjunction with employee support programs. 

Choi, D., Oh, I. S., & Colbert, A. E. (2015). Understanding organizational commitment: A meta-analytic examination of the roles of the five-factor model of personality and culture. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(5), 1542-1567.

New views on employee well-being

Employee well-being should be studied in a more complex and comprehensive way, as organizational psychologist Arnold Bakker from the Netherlands argues in a recent publication. The multilevel model of employee well-being explains that there are multiple factors on multiple levels influencing well-being at work: Not only do people with different personalities experience daily demands differently, also the level of the previously accumulated demands and the previously accumulated coping strategies should be taken into consideration when predicting employee well-being in order to provide new and deeper-reaching insights.

Bakker, A. B. (2015). Towards a multilevel approach of employee well-being. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24(6), 839-843.

Male employees rate only female narcissistic leaders as less effective

Female leaders who show narcissistic tendencies are rated as less effective by their male subordinates, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands. Narcissists typically show a lack of concern for other people, arrogance, and a sense of self-grandiosity. The authors of the study assume that these features violate female gender stereotypes and thereby lead to a less favorable evaluation of narcissistic female leaders. Interestingly, male narcissistic leaders received no penalty in their subordinates' evaluation.  

Applied Psychology

Who receives the most promotions? Recommendations from career research

There exist several factors that affect the number of received promotions. However, the largest impact is due to hours worked, social capital, career sponsorship, training opportunities, extraversion, and proactivity, according to a meta-analysis about predictors of career success. To receive a promotion you should therefore be engaged and motivated for your work, build up powerful networks of supporters, develop your skills, and be outgoing, anticipatory, and self-initiated.

Personnel Psychology

Unemployment can change personality

Experiencing unemployment leads to a decrease in agreeableness towards others, to being less conscientious, and to being less open for new experiences, according to a representative analysis in Germany. Personality is typically seen as very stable in adults. However, important contextual and environmental influences can still affect one's personality. So, here's one other reason to avoid unemployment. It can not just affect career development and income, but the innermost core of who we are.

Journal of Applied Psychology

Argreeable men are penalized when it comes to income

Men who are highly agreeable are earning less compared with less agreeable men - possibly because this does not correspond to gender stereotypes, according to a series of studies in the US. Agreeable women do not suffer the same penalty in income.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

A bit of narcissism might help you get a leadership position

A moderate level of narcissism is advantageous to be promoted into a leadership position, according to a new meta-analytic study. This is likely because narcissistic people are good at making positive first impressions and overstating their achievements and competencies. However, narcissism is not related to better leader performance, according to this study. 

Personnel Psychology