The relationships between personality traits and performance are often assumed to be linear. This assumption has been challenged conceptually and empirically, but results to date have been inconclusive. In the current study, we took a theory-driven approach in systematically addressing this issue. Results based on two different samples generally supported our expectations of the curvilinear relationships between personality traits, including Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability, and job performance dimensions, including task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behaviors. We also hypothesized and found that job complexity moderated the curvilinear personality–performance relationships such that the inflection points after which the relationships disappear were lower for low-complexity jobs than they were for high-complexity jobs. This finding suggests that high levels of the two personality traits examined are more beneficial for performance in high- than low-complexity jobs. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the use of personality in personnel selection.

This meta-analysis examines the strength of the relationships of ACT w Composite scores, high school grades, and socioeconomic status (SES) with academic performance and persistence into the 2nd and 3rd years at 4-year colleges and universities. Based upon a sample of 189,612 students at 50 institutions, ACT Composite scores and high school grade point average (GPA) are highly correlated with 1st-year academic performance. First-year academic performance emerges as the best predictor of 2nd-and 3rd-year retention. SES is a weak predictor of both academic performance and retention. Moderator analyses of admission selectivity indicate that although the estimated mean validity coefficients for ACT Composite scores and high school GPA vary slightly, the credibility intervals indicate they are valid predictors across levels of admission selectivity. This longitudinal study demonstrates the importance of precollege academic preparation and how success in the 1st year of college strongly influences persistence toward completing a degree.For decades colleges have used test scores, notably the ACT and SAT, and high school grade point average (GPA) as predictors of academic performance and persistence (Zwick, 2006, provided a summary of the research on this topic). Although standardized test scores and high 23 Correspondence should be sent to Paul A. Westrick,

Using an expanded person-environment fit (P-E fit) model, we conducted 2 studies to test the combined effects of 2 individual difference factors, ability-demand fit and interest-vocation fit, in predicting college student choice of and persistence in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Analysis results based on data from 207,093 students entering 51 postsecondary institutions supported the hypothesized roles that academic ability and interest fit play in determining STEM field choice and persistence. Ability was found to moderate the effects of interest fit on the behavioral outcomes, thus expanding the P-E fit framework. We also found that gender moderates the effects of these individual difference predictors, such that the effects are weaker for females than for males in predicting STEM choice. For STEM persistence, the opposite effect was found: The relationship between ability and persistence is stronger for females than it is for males. As such, this research contributes to the resurging attention in the roles that individual difference factors play in organizational and educational research and the importance of integrating ability and interest constructs to fully understand college and career choice and persistence behaviors.

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