Relationship between novice versus experienced EFL teacher’s Big Five personality traits and their ambiguity tolerance and risk taking

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationship between novice vs experienced EFLs teachers’ Big Five personality traits, ambiguity tolerance and risk taking. To this purpose, 30 teachers of TEFL courses were randomly selected, and three instruments of NEO Five-Factor Inventory, Ambiguity Tolerance Scale and Risk-taking Propensity Measure were employed to measure their Big Five personality traits, their ambiguity tolerance and risk taking, respectively. Design/methodology/approach The study was a quantitative ex post facto study. The first phase of the study was to investigate the relationship among variables of the study. On the other hand, the second phase of the study examined the impact of experience of teachers on their risk taking and ambiguity tolerance. Findings The results showed that the more experienced the teachers are, the less risk they take and the more ambiguity tolerant they are. On the other hand, the less experienced the teachers are, the more risk they will take and the less they can tolerate ambiguity. The findings of this research can have useful implications for teacher training programs as well as teaching practices. Originality/value This study can add to the circle of knowledge and enhance theoretical assumptions of the field. Moreover, considering the Iranian context, a few studies have focused on the importance of uncovering relationship between five big personality traits and teachers’ personality factors. Therefore, this study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits of teachers and their ambiguity tolerance and risk taking.

An Investigation Into the Interplay Between Chinese EFL Teachers' Emotional Intelligence, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Work Engagement

“…However, when comparing our results to those of Nosratinia et al ( 2013 ), Rastegar and Mehrabi Kermani ( 2015 ), and Vahedi and Fatemi ( 2016 ), which showed a non-significant relationship between these two constructs among learners, it must be pointed out that the results of this study show a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and ambiguity tolerance. A similar pattern of results was obtained in Rezaei et al ( 2019 ) who showed that teachers with higher levels of ambiguity tend to engage more in academic contexts.…”

“…Their study showed the interaction of ambiguity, conflict, emotional intelligence in predicting work engagement. Rezaei et al ( 2019 ), in their study, found that experienced teachers, compared to novice ones, tend to be more tolerant in ambiguous situations. They asserted that novice teachers with lower levels of ambiguity tolerance are less involved in educational contexts.…”

“…Some studies have also been done on the relationship between teachers' personality types and teachers' personality types. Rezaei et al ( 2019 ) argued that individuals, with higher levels of tolerance in ambiguous situations, do not take risk in their job. The literature also demonstrates that ambiguity tolerance is correlated with EFL instructors' negative emotions such as burnout (Zhaleh et al, 2018 ).…”

Personality traits and conflict management styles: building the relationship through leadership effectiveness

“…In other words, both married and unmarried individuals manage their conflicts differently. Categorically, there are positive associations between AGS, AVG and ITG style but negatively associated with DOG style (Rezaei et al, 2019;Chieffi et al, 2022). The study of Bara nczuk (2019) reports AGS as the significant predictor of COG and non-momentous analysis of control.…”

The Relationship Between EFL Teachers' Personality Traits, Communication Strategies, and Work Engagement

“…Nayyar et al ( 2013 ) underscored the importance of “extraversion,” “agreeableness,” “conscientiousness,” and “openness to experience” in affecting teachers' work engagement. Rezaei et al ( 2019 ) demonstrated that experienced teachers are inclined to have higher levels of ambiguity tolerance. They maintained that less ambiguity tolerant novice teachers are less engaged in classrooms.…”