Convenience

The “Big Five” Personality Traits
Psychologists have identified literally thousands of personality traits and dimensions that
differentiate one person from another. But, in recent years, researchers have identified
five fundamental personality traits that are especially relevant to organizations. Because
©
iS
tockphoto.com
/K
alulu
Person–job fit may change for a variety of reasons. For
example, people change over time, as do jobs. New
technology can also affect person–job fit. This manager, for
example, is trying to master a new operating system his firm
has adopted and is having trouble understanding it. While his
confusion may be short-lived, more significant technological
changes can lead to major problems with person–job fit.
individual
differences
Personal attributes
that vary from one
person to another
personality
The relatively stable
set of psychological
and behavioral
attributes that
distinguish one
person from another
264
Part 4:
Leading
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
www.MyEbookNiche.eCrater.com

---

these five traits are so important and because they are currently the subject of so much
attention, they are now commonly referred to as the
“Big Five” personality traits
and
are illustrated in Figure 9.2.
7
Agreeableness
refers to a person’s ability to get along with others. A high level of
agreeableness in people causes them to be gentle, cooperative, forgiving, understanding,
and good-natured in their dealings with others. Those with lower agreeableness can be
irritable, short-tempered, uncooperative, and generally antagonistic toward other people.
Although research has not yet fully investigated the effects of agreeableness, it would
seem likely that highly agreeable people will be better able to develop good working rela-
tionships with coworkers, subordinates, and higher-level managers than less agreeable
people. This same pattern might also extend to relationships with customers, suppliers,
and other key organizational constituents.