Personality, Cultural Values, and Job Satisfaction: Key Concepts and Measures

Define Personality.

The structures and propensities inside people that explain their patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior.

Define Traits.

Recurring regularities or trends in people's responses to their environment.

What are the 'Big Five' personality dimensions?

Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Extraversion.

Which Big Five trait has the biggest influence on job performance?

Conscientiousness.

Accomplishment Striving vs. Communion Striving.

Accomplishment Striving: Desire to complete task-related goals (Conscientiousness); Communion Striving: Desire for acceptance in relationships (Agreeableness).

What is Status Striving?

A strong desire to obtain power and influence within a social structure (associated with Extraversion).

Positive Affectivity vs. Negative Affectivity.

Positive: Dispositional tendency to experience pleasant moods (Extraversion); Negative: Dispositional tendency to experience unpleasant moods (Neuroticism).

Differential Exposure vs. Differential Reactivity.

Exposure: Appraising situations as more stressful; Reactivity: Believing one cannot cope with stressors (both associated with Neuroticism).

Internal vs. External Locus of Control.

Internal: Believing your own behavior dictates events; External: Believing events are driven by luck, chance, or fate.

Characteristics of 'Openness to Experience'.

Being curious, imaginative, creative, complex, and sophisticated.

Define Cultural Values.

Shared beliefs about desirable end states or modes of conduct in a given culture.

Individualism vs. Collectivism.

Individualism: Loose social framework; Collectivism: Tight social framework where people care for members of an in-group.

What is Power Distance?

The degree to which a culture accepts that power is distributed unequally (Low vs. High).

What is Uncertainty Avoidance?

The degree to which a culture tolerates ambiguous situations or feels threatened by them.

Masculinity vs. Femininity.

Masculinity: Values assertiveness and money; Femininity: Values quality of life and caring for others.

Short-term vs. Long-term Orientation.

Short-term: Values past/present traditions; Long-term: Values future-oriented traits like persistence and thrift.

Define Ability.

Relatively stable capabilities people have to perform a particular range of related activities.

What are the five facets of Cognitive Ability?

Verbal, Quantitative, Reasoning, Spatial, and Perceptual.

What is General Cognitive Ability (g-factor)?

The shared area of overlap among the five facets of cognitive ability.

Define Emotional Intelligence (EI).

Capabilities related to the management and use of emotions when interacting with others.

What are the four facets of Emotional Intelligence?

Self-awareness, Other awareness, Emotion regulation, and Use of emotions.

Define Physical Ability.

Capabilities related to the use of physical force and movement (e.g., strength, stamina, flexibility).

Define Job Satisfaction.

A pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences.

What is Value-Percept Theory?

Argues that job satisfaction depends on whether you perceive that your job supplies the things you value.

What are the five facets of Job Satisfaction?

Pay, Promotion, Supervision, Coworker, and Work itself.

Which Job Satisfaction facet is most strongly correlated to overall satisfaction?

Satisfaction with the Work itself.

What are the three Critical Psychological States?

Meaningfulness of work, Responsibility for outcomes, and Knowledge of results.

What are the five Core Job Characteristics (VISAF)?

Variety, Identity, Significance, Autonomy, and Feedback.

Variety vs. Identity vs. Significance.

Variety: Different activities/skills; Identity: Completing a whole piece of work; Significance: Impact on others' lives.

Autonomy vs. Feedback (Job Characteristics).

Autonomy: Freedom/Independence; Feedback: The work itself providing information on performance.

Moods vs. Emotions.

Moods: Mild, long-lasting, not directed at anything; Emotions: Intense, short, directed at someone/something.

Define Emotional Labour.

The need to manage emotions to complete job duties successfully (e.g., flight attendants).

Define Emotional Contagion.

The idea that emotions can be 'transferred' from one person to another.

What is the Job Descriptive Index (JDI)?

A satisfaction measure covering pay, promotion, supervision, coworkers, and work itself.

What is the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)?

A measure of job satisfaction across 20 specific scales (e.g., creativity, recognition).

Clear Purpose vs. Veiled Purpose Integrity Tests.

Clear Purpose: Direct questions about dishonesty; Veiled Purpose: Personality traits associated with counterproductive behavior.