Effects of Personality on Executive Career Success in the U.S. and Europe

The present study extended prior career success models by incorporating traits from the five-factor model of personality (often termed the Big Five ) and several dimensions of extrinsic (remuneration, ascendancy, job level, employability) and intrinsic (job, life, and career satisfaction) career success. The model examined both direct effects, and the mediating effects of an array of human capital and motivation variables derived from prior research. Data were collected from two large samples of American and European executives. Some results supported prior research: Extroversion related positively, and neuroticism negatively, to intrinsic career success across both the U.S. and European samples. Some results differed from expectations: (1) Conscientiousness was mostly unrelated to extrinsic success and negatively related to intrinsic success in both samples; (2) Agreeableness was negatively related to extrinsic success in both samples. Differences emerged between the European and American samples, in that: (1) Neuroticism associated with lower levels of extrinsic success for the American executives but not the Europeans; (2) Extroversion associated with higher levels of extrinsic success for the European executives, but not the Americans. For both samples, human capital and motivational variables associated predictably with career success, but seldom mediated the relationship between personality and career success

Job Search Behavior of Employed Managers

Job search typically has been thought of as an antecedent to voluntary turnover or job choice behavior. This study extends the existing literature by proposing a model of the job search process and examining the job search behavior of employed managers. Managers were initially surveyed about their job search activity over the past year. Approximately one year later, the same managers were surveyed to assess whether they had changed jobs since the initial survey, and the circumstances surrounding the job change. This survey data was matched with job, organizational, and personal information contained in the data base of a large executive search firm. Results suggest that dissatisfaction with different aspects of the organization and job were more strongly related to job search than were perceptions of greener pastures. Moreover, although some job search activity does facilitate turnover, a considerable amount of search does not lead to turnover. Thus, it appears that search serves many purposes. Implications of managerial job search on organizations are discussed

Job and Life Attitudes of Male Executives

Despite executives\u27 important positions in organizations, their attitute have not received much research attention. In an attempt to remedy this deficiency, the present study tested a hypothesized model of executive attitudes involving job satisfaction, life satisfaction, job stress, and work-family conflict. Using data gathered from a large, representative sample of male executives (due to the small number of female executives in the study, the analyses were confined to males only), LISREL results indicated support for the overall model and the specific relationships within the model. These results are the first to simultaneously consider job and life satisfaction, job stress, and work-family conflict, and also constitute the most comprehensive evidence to date on executive attitudes. The meaning and contributions of the findings are discussed

An Empirical Investigation of the Predictors of Executive Career Success

The present study examined the degree to which demographic, human capital,motivational, organizational, and industry/region variables predicted executive career success. Career success was assumed to comprise objective (pay, ascendancy) and subjective (job satisfaction, career satisfaction) elements. Results obtained from a sample of 1,388 U.S.executives suggested that demographic, human capital, motivational, and organizational variables explained significant variance in objective career success and in career satisfaction. Particularly interesting were findings that educational level, quality, prestige, and degree type all predicted financial success. In contrast, only the motivational and organizational variables explained significant amounts of variance in job satisfaction. These findings suggest that the variables that lead to objective career success often are quite different from those that lead to subjectively defined success

Effects of Personality, Cognitive Ability, and Fit on Job Search and Separation Among Employed Managers

The present study attempted to provide a constructive replication and extension of a study on managerial job search completed by Bretz, Boudreau, and Judge (1994). Beyond examining the same variables as Bretz et al. (1994), the effects of personality, cognitive ability, challenge and hindrance related job stress, and fit on job search and turnover also were examined. Data were collected from a 1995 survey of employed U.S. managers and a 1996 follow-up survey of respondents. Results based on a sample of 1,886 managers generally replicated the Bretz et al. results. Furthermore, hindrance related stress, cognitive ability, extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness were associated with search and/or separation

Personality and Cognitive Ability as Predictors of Job Search and Separation Among Employed Managers

Traditional models and research on employee job search and separation focus on situationally-specific variables, those that change with time or between particular employment situations. More enduring individual characteristics, such as personality and cognitive ability, may create predispositions that affect search and separation in consistent ways across different situations. The research reported here extends traditional turnover models by incorporating two enduring individual characteristics – personality and cognitive ability – into the search and separation process. This extended model is then tested on a sample of executives. Cognitive ability as well as the personality dimensions of agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience related positively to job search. The effects of cognitive ability and the personality dimensions of agreeableness and openness to experience on job search were partially mediated by the array of situational factors, while the effect of neuroticism on job search was fully mediated. The relationship between extraversion and job search became significant in the presence of situational factors, suggesting a suppressor effect. With regard to separation, a similar suppressor effect was found for extraversion. Implications for future research and practice are discussed