Job stressors and voluntary work behaviours: mediating effect of emotion and moderating roles of personality and emotional intelligence

Framed within an emotion-centred model, the current study investigated the mediating role of negative and positive emotion between job stressors and counterproductive work behaviours (CWB) and organisational citizenship behaviours, and the moderating effects of personality and ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) on the relationships between job stressors and emotions. Results from a sample of 202 Caribbean employees across eight public and private sector organisations showed that both positive and negative emotion mediated the relation between job stressors and citizenship behaviours, whereas only negative emotion was found to mediate the relation between job stressors and CWB. Some support was found for the moderating effects of personality and EI. Implications for research and practice are discussed

An empirical analysis of the representation of lower-order facets of the big five personality dimensions

In the field of personality psychology there is some consensus among researchers that human personality, at the broadest level, can be described in terms of five fundamental personality dimensions. Universally, these personality dimensions are referred to as the “Big Five” model or the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality: Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability versus Neuroticism, and Intellect or Openness to Experience. However, currently, there is little conceptual or empirical consensus about a meaningful taxonomy of lower-order facets that make up each of the Big Five personality factors. This thesis sought to identify a parsimonious and replicable taxonomy of lower-order facets of the Big Five personality factors, and test the lower-order facet structure for construct and criterion-related validity. Based on the US Eugene-Springfield community sample (ESCS) (N =375), Study 1 examined facet scale scores from nine widely used personality inventories using Exploratory Factor Analysis in order to identify a shared overall lower-order structure for each of the Big Five personality domains. Factor analyses of 162 facet scales revealed 29 facets for the Big Five which demonstrated good convergent validity. However, some facets (e.g. traditionalism, peacefulness, trust) showed less clear patterns of discriminant validity, and thus appear to be compound traits or blends of two or more Big Five factors. In Study 2, a new 232-item Big Five instrument, the Hierarchical Personality Assessment Questionnaire (HPAQ), was developed to measure the 29 lower-order facets derived in Study 1. In the development phase of HPAQ, the factor scores for the 29 facets from Study 1 were correlated with the International Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999) in order to generate an initial pool of items. An initial pool of 348 IPIP items to mark the 29 facets was then administered to a large sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students at a University in the English-speaking Caribbean (N = 778) with the intention of choosing 8 items that best marked each of the facets. Additionally, the HPAQ was validated in a second sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students (N = 807) against the NEO-PIR and its psychometric properties were further examined. The development and validation of the HPAQ was a first step in moving towards Study 3. Study 3 investigated the differential criterion-related validity of the 29 HPAQ lower-order facets in the prediction of job performance criteria (task performance, counterproductive work behaviour, and organisational citizenship behaviours). In addition, the incremental validities of the 29 lower-order facets in the prediction of job performance criteria were also examined. Overall, Study 3 found that the 29 lower-order facets demonstrated differential criterion-related validity and provided incremental validity beyond the global Big Five factors in predicting the job performance criteria and vice versa. Overall, this thesis empirically derives an initial taxonomy of lower-order facets of the Big Five personality factors based on nine personality inventories and developed a new Big Five personality instrument to measure explicitly this lower-order facet structure. The theoretical and practical implications of these results, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed

An empirical analysis of the representation of lower-order facets of the big five personality dimensions

In the field of personality psychology there is some consensus among researchers that human personality, at the broadest level, can be described in terms of five fundamental personality dimensions. Universally, these personality dimensions are referred to as the “Big Five” model or the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality: Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability versus Neuroticism, and Intellect or Openness to Experience. However, currently, there is little conceptual or empirical consensus about a meaningful taxonomy of lower-order facets that make up each of the Big Five personality factors. This thesis sought to identify a parsimonious and replicable taxonomy of lower-order facets of the Big Five personality factors, and test the lower-order facet structure for construct and criterion-related validity. Based on the US Eugene-Springfield community sample (ESCS) (N =375), Study 1 examined facet scale scores from nine widely used personality inventories using Exploratory Factor Analysis in order to identify a shared overall lower-order structure for each of the Big Five personality domains. Factor analyses of 162 facet scales revealed 29 facets for the Big Five which demonstrated good convergent validity. However, some facets (e.g. traditionalism, peacefulness, trust) showed less clear patterns of discriminant validity, and thus appear to be compound traits or blends of two or more Big Five factors. In Study 2, a new 232-item Big Five instrument, the Hierarchical Personality Assessment Questionnaire (HPAQ), was developed to measure the 29 lower-order facets derived in Study 1. In the development phase of HPAQ, the factor scores for the 29 facets from Study 1 were correlated with the International Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999) in order to generate an initial pool of items. An initial pool of 348 IPIP items to mark the 29 facets was then administered to a large sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students at a University in the English-speaking Caribbean (N = 778) with the intention of choosing 8 items that best marked each of the facets. Additionally, the HPAQ was validated in a second sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students (N = 807) against the NEO-PIR and its psychometric properties were further examined. The development and validation of the HPAQ was a first step in moving towards Study 3. Study 3 investigated the differential criterion-related validity of the 29 HPAQ lower-order facets in the prediction of job performance criteria (task performance, counterproductive work behaviour, and organisational citizenship behaviours). In addition, the incremental validities of the 29 lower-order facets in the prediction of job performance criteria were also examined. Overall, Study 3 found that the 29 lower-order facets demonstrated differential criterion-related validity and provided incremental validity beyond the global Big Five factors in predicting the job performance criteria and vice versa. Overall, this thesis empirically derives an initial taxonomy of lower-order facets of the Big Five personality factors based on nine personality inventories and developed a new Big Five personality instrument to measure explicitly this lower-order facet structure. The theoretical and practical implications of these results, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed

Job attitudes and absenteeism: A study in the English speaking Caribbean

This paper examines the relationships of job attitudes (facets of job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and personality characteristics to absenteeism, in five manufacturing companies in Barbados, an English-speaking Caribbean country. The relationships examined are based on well-established theories from the developed world, especially the USA. In addition, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance were measured. The results show that an employee's levels of satisfaction with co-workers, activity, responsibility, and job security, as well as loyalty to the organization, are related to absenteeism. These results are similar to those found in past research in the developed world. The most important single predictor of absence was satisfaction with co-workers. Respondents were moderate on individualism, high on uncertainty avoidance, and low on power distance. The cultural scores are used to help interpret the results. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of expanding the reach of an established theory, and relative to decreasing absenteeism in Barbados.Job satisfaction Organizational commitment Personality characteristics Cultural values Absenteeism

Perceived effectiveness of fraud detection audit procedures in a stock and warehousing cycle: Additional evidence from Barbados

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of fraud detection techniques in the stock and warehouse cycle in Barbados. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a self-administered questionnaire, adapted and modified from Owusu-Ansah et al. The sample is comprised of 64 auditors. The study examines the perceived effectiveness of audit procedures, the influence of size of the audit firm, and the level of audit experience in the choice of specific audit procedures. Findings – The study indicates that there is a moderate to high perceived effectiveness of standard audit procedures in the detection of fraud in the stock and warehousing cycle in Barbados and that the majority of the “more effective” audit procedures can be classified as field research techniques that are more direct in obtaining evidence. It is found that auditors from larger firms reported higher means for audit procedures. There are mixed findings with respect to the significant relationship between level of auditing experience of auditors and perceived effectiveness of fraud detection techniques. The study also indicates that males consistently rated the level of effectiveness of audit procedures higher than females. Research limitations/implications – Due to the relatively small sample size, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Nonetheless, the findings of this study do indicate that auditing procedures in this developing country are on par with those of developed countries. Practical implications – This paper serves to inform audit-related policies and regulation on the potential threats within the stock and warehouse cycle. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the limited body of research on fraud detection within the stock and warehouse cycle in small developing countries.Auditing, Barbados, Developing countries, Fraud, Stock control, Warehousing