Reciprocal relationship between proactive personality and work characteristics: A latent change score approach.

Abstract

Previous proactivity research has predominantly assumed that proactive personality generates positive environmental changes in the workplace. Grounded in recent research on personality development from a broad interactionist theoretical approach, the present article investigates whether work characteristics, including job demands, job control, social support from supervisors and coworkers, and organizational constraints, change proactive personality over time and, more important, reciprocal relationships between proactive personality and work characteristics. Latent change score analyses based on longitudinal data collected in 3 waves across 3 years show that job demands and job control have positive lagged effects on increases in proactive personality. In addition, proactive personality exerts beneficial lagged effects on increases in job demands, job control, and supervisory support, and on decreases in organizational constraints. Dynamic reciprocal relationships are observed between proactive personality with job demands and job control. The revealed corresponsive change relationships between proactive personality and work characteristics contribute to the proactive personality literature by illuminating more nuanced interplays between the agentic person and work characteristics, and also have important practical implications for organizations and employees.

Developing agency through good work: Longitudinal effects of job autonomy and skill utilization on locus of control

“…Such small effect size is observed in personality development studies (e.g., Li et al, 2014). Our examination makes the relatively small effect more noteworthy because LOC, though changeable, may not be easy to change.…”

“…Over time, experiences at work can be generalized and affect one's personality by changing one's patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving (e.g., Hudson, Roberts, & Lodi-Smith, 2012;Li, Fay, Frese, Harms, & Gao, 2014). In this study, we focus on the job characteristics of autonomy, which refers to the latitude to make decisions about day-to-day work (Hackman & Oldham, 1976), and skill utilization, which refers to using and developing skills and ability at work (O'Brien, 1982).…”

Personality change via work: A job demand–control model of Big-five personality changes

“…To date, the mechanisms of personality change have been understood from cognitive and behavioral perspectives such that personality change relates to how individuals view themselves (e.g., Wu & Griffin, 2012;Wu et al, 2015) and/or behavioral habituation (e.g., Li et al, 2014;Lodi-Smith & Roberts, 2007). This study offers a biological stress-response mechanism to understand why personality traits, especially the traits of neuroticism and extroversion, can change and what drives such change.…”

“…First, although work design factors (e.g., job autonomy and job complexity) have been theorized and empirically linked to personality change in several studies (e.g., Kohn & Schooler, 1982;Li et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2015), the role of work experiences influenced by work design factors in shaping personality change has not been examined. This study extended previous research by empirically examining the important role of work experiences, or job stress precisely, in linking the association between work design factors (i.e., time demand and job control) and personality change (changes in neuroticism and extroversion).…”

“…Additionally, why environment/experiences can lead to personality change has rarely been examined because previous research primarily focused on the main effects of work environment/experiences on personality change. Although a bottom-up process has been used to explain why work environment/experiences can drive personality change (e.g., Li et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2015), a bottom-up process has not been empirically examined and, thus, the validity of the bottom-up process explanation is unknown.…”