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MODERATING EFFECT OF BIG FIVE PERSONALITY
TRAITS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB STRESS
AND JOB PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES IN THE
NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY
DZEVER, LINUS TERRY
Department of Guidance and Counseling,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This study examined the role of big five personality traits in the relationship of job stress
and job performance among service employees working in the Nigerian Banks in Lagos
(N=200). A descriptive survey design using the ex-post facto type was adopted for the
study. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from employees on Job
performance, job stress and big five personality traits. Obtained data were analysed by
using Pearson r and hierarchal regression analyses. The results of coefficient of correlation
indicate that conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness and
extraversion dimensions of personality were found to be significantly positively correlated
with job performance. Also, there was a strong positive significant relationship between
job stress and job performance (p <. 05). The results of hierarchal regression analysis
support the results of correlation analysis. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis
supported the role of big five personality traits as a moderator of job stress and job
performance relationship. Furthermore, the results from this study have important practical
implications in the employee selection process and might be used in enhancing
organizational effectiveness and improve staff performance.
Keywords: Job Performance, Job stress, Big five Personality traits, Nigerian Banking
Industry
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INTRODUCTION:
Job performance is an important construct in industrial/organizational psychology (Arvey & Murphy, 1998).
It consists of the observable behaviours that people do in their jobs that are relevant to the goals of the
organization (Campbell, McHenry & Wise, 1990). Job performance is of interest to organizations because of
the importance of high productivity in the workplace (Viswesvaran, Schmidt and Ones (2005). Campbell,
McCloy, Oppler and Sager (1993) explain that performance is not the consequence of behaviours, but rather
the behaviours themselves. In other words, performance consists of the behaviours that employees actually
engage in which can be observed. In contrast to the strictly behavioural definitions of job performance,
Motowidlo, Borman, and Schmit (1997) say that rather than solely the behaviours themselves, performance
is behaviours with an evaluative aspect. This definition is consistent with the dominant methods used to
measure job performance, namely performance ratings from supervisors and peers (Newman, Kinney &
Farr, 2004). Although Motowidlo et al. (1997) emphasize this evaluative idea in defining the performance
domain, they still maintain that job performance is behaviours and not results. According to Murphy, (1989),
job performance should focus on behaviours rather than outcomes because a focus on outcomes could lead
employees to find the easiest way to achieve the desired results, which is likely to be detrimental to the
organization because other important behaviours will not be performed. Job performance is the result of
three factors working together: skill, effort and the nature of work conditions. Skills include knowledge,
abilities and competencies the employee brings to the job; effort is the degree of motivation the employee
puts forth toward getting the job done; and the nature of work conditions is the degree of accommodation of
these conditions in facilitating the employee’s productivity (Newman, Kinney & Farr, 2004).
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT:
THE NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY:
Banks, like any other organization, employ diverse resources in the course of their operations. To thrive in
business, they must put such resources, especially the human capital, to effective and efficient use. However,
human factor, unlike other resources, is very complex and behavioural scientists contend that an individual’s
behaviour is not random but caused and directed towards some ends they believe rightly or wrongly to be in their
best interest. This is so because people are unique and have different personalities, needs, goals, desires, and
backgrounds, and by so doing respond to motivational stimuli differently. Hence, the well-being of individual
bank employees is expectedly bound to vary consistently with different life experiences and expectations.
The Nigerian banking sector has played an important role in the Nigerian economy. However, despite all the
good done by our banks, there has been a disturbing trend within the sector (Ahamed, 2012). However, the
structure of the banking industry changed significantly since 2005 due to regulatory induced consolidation
via mergers and acquisitions. The banking sector reform coupled with the global trend in Merger and
Acquisitions provided a compelling reason for major structural changes in the financial system that resulted
in the shrinkage in the number of banks from 107 (in 1990) to 25 banks in 2010 (Alford, 2010). However,
concerns persist that most banks are struggling with their manpower integration programmes due to
challenges engendered by consolidation. Major manpower issues triggered by the reform included right
sizing and realignment of staff which entailed retrenchment, demotion, salary reduction, redeployments,
culture conflict among others. Sadly, being solvent does not necessarily indicate that Nigerian bank
employees are generally satisfied. These factors bear directly on employee welfare (ILO, 2001; Barnett,
Rachel, Pearson and Ramos, 2005). This uncertainty within the Nigerian banking sector has resulted in job
insecurity amongst other job dissatisfies. These threw those who work in it into all manners of psychological
conditions such as feelings of job insecurity, occupational stress, burnout and loss of self-efficacy. As
Samuels, Osinowo and Chipunza (2009) found, employee feelings of job uncertainty can affect job
performance and commitment.
JOB PERFORMANCE:
The concept and definition of individual performance has received considerable scholarly research attention
over the past 15 to 20 years. Researchers agree that performance has to be considered as a multi-dimensional
concept. On the most basic level one can distinguish between a process aspect (i.e., behavioural) and an
outcome aspect of performance (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993; Campbell, McCloy, Oppler and Sager,
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1993). The behavioural aspect refers to what people do while at work, the action itself (Campbell, 1990).
Performance encompasses specific behaviour (e.g., sales conversations with customers, teaching statistics to
undergraduate students, programming computer software, assembling parts of a product). This
conceptualization implies that only actions that can be scaled (i.e., counted) are regarded as performance
(Campbell et al., 1993). Moreover, this performance concept explicitly only describes behaviour which is
goal-oriented, i.e. behaviour which the organization hires the employee to do well as performance (Campbell
et al., 1993). It is the contribution to organizational goals and can be measured by outcomes (Borman &
Motowidlo, 1993). Moreover, job performance is productivity that expresses the quantity, quality and
contribution of a job. When productivity is high the overall performance within the organization will be high
(Schermerhorn, 2000). That is, job performance is an employee's overall work outcomes, including efficacy,
efficiency, and effectiveness (Hsu, 2005). Schermerhorn (1992) argued that job performance is the results of
quality and quantity after completion of a mission by an individual or a group.
Borman and Motowidlo (1993) distinguished job performance into task performance and contextual
performance. Task performance is the efficiency of individual work that indicates the degrees of completion
of assignments under organizational expectations. It is the proficiency of an official job that contributes to
the technological core of an organization (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993; Borman & Motowidlo, 1997).
Motowidlo and Van Scotter (1994) further defined that task performance is individual work outcomes that
are related to the organizational expectations or the degrees of achievement on a job assignment. It is a kind
of in-role behavior, which will directly influence an organization’s performance. Contextual performance
means that individuals have the willingness to perform organizational activities, which are unofficially
regulative and the earnest to persist in the accomplishment of organizational assignments as well as
cooperate and keep good relationship with coworkers to achieve better performance (Borman & Motowidlo,
1993). Contextual performance signifies that employees will help organizational operations by free will
without any internal system to regulate or control. This kind of performance can intensify an organization’s
or a group’s efficacy and further affect job performance (Crant, 1995).
JOB STRESS AND JOB PERFORMANCE:
Job stress is a new old concept, introduced first by Selye at the beginning of the twenty century and recently
became one of the most important contemporary issues in applied research, the factors that lead to stress, its'
consequences and the necessary strategies to deal with distress outcomes. It is existed in the life of every
individual, within the family relations, at work and in any career, in any organization, all over the world. The
outcomes of job stress exceeds productivity and quality of employees performance, its' psychological influence
inverts into a bad lifestyle habits like smoking, over eating, drinking alcohol and lead to serious chronic
diseases like hypertension and heart diseases (Owolabi, Owolabi, OlaOlorun & Olofin 2012). Ganster and
Loghan, (2005) viewed Job stress as a dysfunctional for organizations and their members, although stress has
been variously viewed as an environmental stimulus to an individual. Selye (1956) defined stress as an
individual's reaction to environmental forces that affect an individual performance. Job related stress can be
mostly immobilizing because of its possible threats to family functioning and individual performance.
According to Rose, (2003) stress condition which happens when one realizes the pressures on them, or the
requirements of a situation, are wider than their recognition that they can handle, if these requirements are
huge and continue for a longer period of time without any interval, mental, physical or behaviour problems
may occur. Stress exists in every organization either big or small the work places and organizations have
become so much complex due to which it exists, work place stress has significant effects over the employees
job performance, and the organizations around the world are trying to cope with this scenario (Anderson,
2003). In every organization and at every level of management and workers an elevated average level of
stress is to be found which mostly has an effect on employees’ job performance. Rose, (2003) further states
that employees have tendency towards high level of stress regarding time, working for longer hours which
reduces employees urge for performing better.
Numerous studies found that job stress influences the employees’ overall performance in their work.
Because most of the organizations now are more demanding for the better job outcomes (AlexandrosStamatios et. al., 2003; Al-Aameri, 2003), in fact, modern times have been called as the “age of anxiety and
stress”. Internal competition may for example, exert an amount of pressure or stress that at times can act as a
motivator. In this respect, Papasolomou-Doukakis et al. (2004) suggest that a competitive internal
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environment can motivate staff to improve performance; such competition among firms’ salesmen is
facilitated by focusing on the achievement of sales targets, linking the achievement of sales targets to
monetary rewards and using league tables involving sales performance. Too much pressure however, may
have stress related implications such as employee mental alienation and/or impact on individual performance
(Sdrolias et al, 2005); also, destruction of team spirit, dissatisfaction with or absence or even resignation
from work can be manifestations of work stress.
THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL OF PERSONALITY AND JOB PERFORMANCE:
The ‘Big Five’ model implies that personality consists of five relatively independent dimensions that
altogether provide a meaningful taxonomy for the study of individual differences. These five dimensions are
Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Each of the Big
Five dimensions is like a bucket that holds a set of traits that tend to occur together. Our interpretation of the
Big Five directly corresponds to our measurement of the five-factor model of personality.
Openness to experience refers the number of interests to which one is attracted and the depth to which those
interests are pursued. The behavioral tendencies typically associated with Openness to Experience include
being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad minded, intelligent, and having a need for variety,
aesthetic sensitivity, and unconventional values (McCrae & John, 1992). Openness to Experience is
correlated to technical and innovativeness, deviating approach, and political moderation (Judge et al., 2002).
The social propensity generally related with Openness to Experience comprise of being creative, cultivated,
curious, open-minded, intellectual having a need for diversity, aesthetic and sensitivity" (McCrae & John,
1992). Openness to Experience is also referred to as ‘double-edged sword’ because it prompts personalities
to have intense good feelings as well as intense bad feelings. However, studies by Barrick and Mount
(1991) echoed a positive relationship between the openness to experience dimension and job performance
for “training proficiency criterion” which seems to suggest that these individuals are innovative, caring and
insightful (Judge and Bono, 2002). Further, these kinds of individuals have a very optimistic approach for
training and learning experiences (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Conscientiousness refers to the number of goals on which one is focused. It is related to dependability and
volition and the typical behaviours associated with it include being hard working, achievement- oriented,
persevering, careful, and responsible (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
This type contains traits like diligent, attentive, vigilant, comprehensive, responsible, systematized and
determined (Barrick & Mount, 1991). High conscientiousness personalities are logical, reliable, and risk
averter. These persons are responsible, reliable, determined, cautious, and thorough, who focus on success
which is also very significant characteristic for performing work tasks (Barrick & Mount. 1991, 1993). This
is the reason conscientiousness persons are best related with job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991) in all
the traits. Conscientious people forms long-standing work exchange relations and search for such
atmosphere where they have better chances for achievement and success (Raja et al., 2004).
Conscientiousness individuals are among the best to lead to significant job performance (Barrick et al.,
2001; Judge et al., 2002) because of their work participation and their characteristic of being able to take the
opportunity to get formal and informal rewards. Erdheim et al. (2006) also echoed a positive link between
affective commitment and conscientiousness.
Extraversion refers to the level of sensory stimulation with which one is comfortable. The behavioural
tendencies used to measure this factor include being sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, and active
(Barrick & Mount, 1991). Extraverts have a tendency to be spontaneous, communicative, energetic,
positive, and enthusiastic (Watson & Clark, 1997). Extraverts are capable of practicing affirmative emotions
(Costa & McCrae, 1992) which in turn lead to job gratification (Connolly & Viswesvaran, 2000). Extravert
individuals are emotionally firm and sure that’s why they possess contented personality (Erdheim, Wang &
Zickar, 2006) and this blissful personality is the key feature of contented life and job satisfaction (Judge et
al. 2002). Extraverts are also effective analyst of job performance for professions like administrations, social
relation and sales (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Agreeableness refers to the number of sources from which one takes one's norms for right behaviour. The
behavioural tendencies typically associated with this factor include being courteous, flexible, trusting, goodnatured, cooperative, forgiving, soft-hearted, and tolerant (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Between agreeableness
and job performance the correlation is very weak (Barrick & Mount, 1991) and similar is the case with the
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relationship between agreeableness and job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002). This facet of big five model is
related with normative commitments significantly (Erdehim et al., 2006).
Neuroticism refers to the number and strength of stimuli required to elicit negative emotions in a person.
Typical behaviours associated with this factor include being anxious, depressed, angry, embarrassed,
emotional, worried, and insecure (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Neuroticism signifies variances of individual
tendency to experience suffering and is defined as emotionally insecure and uneven" (McCrae & John,
1992). Neurotics have no belief and faith on others (Goldberg, 1990), and have no social expertise to handle
the situations that claim to take control. As compare to other individuals, neurotics experience more adverse
feelings in life. That’s the reason they are found to be negatively related with job satisfaction (Judge et al.,
2002) and job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Generally persistence commitment is negatively
correlated to professional performance and neurotics are positively aligned with persistence commitment
(Erdheim, Wang & Zickar, 2006). Meta-analysis by Meyer et al. (2002) showed that persistence
commitment is negatively interrelated with complete performance and Neuroticism also negatively
interrelated with professional performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES:
Hypothesis 1a: Job stress will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 1b: Extraversion will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 1c: Openness to Experience will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 1d: Agreeableness will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 1e: Conscientiousness will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 1f: Neuroticism will positively relate to job performance
Hypothesis 2: Big five personality traits will moderate the relationship between job stress and job
performance
METHODS AND MATERIALS:
Design:
The research design adopted for this research was a descriptive survey research design using the ex-post
facto type. The descriptive survey is used in this study in order to ascertain and be able to describe the
characteristics of the variables of interest in a situation. Descriptive studies are also undertaken to
understand the characteristics of organizations that follows certain common practices. The goal of a
descriptive study is to offer to the researcher a profile or to describe relevant aspects of the phenomena of
interest from an individual, organizational, industry-oriented, or others perspectives (Uma Sekaran, 2006).
Population, Sample and Sampling Technique:
The populations of the research are all service employees in the Nigerian banking industry Lagos
metropolis. The sample consisted of 200 service employees in the banking sector. All these employees are
from various departments; Sales, Marketing, Human resource, Administration and Customer care service.
This study employed simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Simple random sampling
was used in order to avoid bias and to ensure that each service employees had an equal chance of being
selected. According to Amin (2005) randomization is effective in creating equivalent representative groups
that are essentially the same on all relevant variables thought of by the researcher. Purposive sampling was
used in selecting respondents because the researcher wanted to study the job performance of only service
employees in the banking sector.
Ethical Considerations:
All respondents of this study were under informed consent and received written information about the
purpose of the study as well as the confidentiality taken by the researchers through the human resource
managers. The banks ethical committee approved the research plan. Participation was voluntary. Participants
were informed about their possibility not to answer some of the questions or the whole questionnaires. No
names were used during the coding, the data analysis and the reports. All gathered information is
confidential and no individual information is given to the authorities.
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Measurements:
Job Performance Scale (JPS): The job performance was assessed using Task and contextual performance
scale developed by (Gomez- Mejia et al., 2007). The instrument contains 25 items, 16 items measuring
employee task performance and 9 items for contextual performance. All of the items were adapted from
William and Anderson (1990). All items were rated on a five-point Likert scale, namely 1=strongly disagree,
2=disagree, 3= undecided, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree. To determine the score of this scale, ratings on each
item are summed and divided by the total number of items on the scale. Negative statement items on the
instrument were reverse-coded so that a high score on the instrument indicates a high degree of job
performance for the public servants. The scale is based on employee’s relative judgment that focuses on the
overall Job performance, which is based on task-related performance and contextual performance behaviour.
A sample item is “I often try to make constructive suggestions for improving how things operate in this
department. The scale reported a strong alpha’s of 0.921 for task performance and 0.936 for contextual
performance. The internal consistency reliability for the overall Job Performance scale was 0.927.
NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI): The Big five personality traits were measured with the Hindi
version of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), originally developed by Costa and McCrae (1992).
The NEO-FFI is a well recognized, extensively tested and widely used scale to measure the Big Five
Personality dimensions (e.g. Renner, 2002). This inventory consists of sixty items (twelve items for each
factor) and based on five-point Likert format (from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”). The NEO-FFI
was translated and validated into the Hindi language for the use in present research work. To check the items
validity on our sample item total correlation was performed. Items related to openness to change factor have
not shown the satisfactory item total correlation so this factor was dropped in further analysis. Reliability
analysis was performed for remaining items. In present study, internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s
Alpha) was found to be 0.76 for neuroticism (8 items), 0.50 for extraversion (7 items), 0.65 for
agreeableness (9 items) and 0.77 for conscientiousness factor (12 items).
Job Stress: The standardized instrument utilized was the Weiman Occupational Stress Scale, which was
designed in 1978. The Weiman Occupational Stress Scale was used to establish a baseline score for the
participants in the study. The Weiman Scale is a fifteen question Likert-type instrument that measures work
related stress. Answers on the scale range from 1-5 points, with 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 4 =
frequently, and 5 = nearly always. The participants were asked to identify and rank order stress management
techniques and/or methods which had been provided for the subjects in the form of a list. The WOSS have
yielded a .90 reliability coefficient and has also been shown to be a valid measure of occupational stress.
The Weiman Occupational Stress Scale has also shown predictive validity in that high scores on this scale
been used as not only an indicator of present stress experienced by employees, but also of future stress
associated with their positions if they do not proactively act to resolve their present situations. The author
chose these instruments for several reasons. Both the Weiman Occupational Stress Scale and the listed
questionnaire were simple instruments for subjects to complete and it takes very limited time and
instructions. On average, the questionnaires took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
Procedure for Data Collection:
Introductory letters and a set of questionnaires were distributed to selected banks. This served as a means of
acquiring permission to undertake the research in the selected banks. Upon acquisition of a written
permission, willing respondents were selected from the selected Banks and given self-administered
questionnaires to fill. The questionnaires were interpreted where necessary. The administering of
questionnaires lasted for two week. Two hundred (200) of out of two hundred and twenty (220) completed
questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 88%.
Data Analysis:
In analyzing the data, there are various statistical tests and the interpretation of the results of the analyses,
using the SPSS Version 11.0 and also Excel. After the data were coded, they were entered into a SPSS data
file for analyses. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Hierarchical Regression Analysis
(ANOVA), and correlation tests were performed by the investigator for each research hypothesis.
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HYPOTHESES TESTING:
Results
TABLE 1: MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS AND ZERO-ORDER CORRELATIONS (N=200)
Variables
1) Gender
Mean SD 1
1.57 .50 1
2
3
4
2)Age
2.88 1.67 -.11
3)Current Job Position
2.68 1.60 .03
.137** 1
4)Years of Experience
1.96
.149** .22*
5) Job Stress
2.95 1.42 -.15
6) Neuroticism
7) Extraversion
.70 -.09
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1
-.01
.15
1
-.15
1
2.88 1.67 -.120* .129** .08
.06
.15
3.18 1.61 -.122* .07
.130** .130**.133** 1
-.09
1
8) Openness to experience3.30 1.66 .05
.06
.08
-.08
.06
.07
.09
9) Agreeableness
3.28 1.64 .10
.17
.09
-.15
.02
.136* * .12
10)Conscientiousness
3.13 1.59 .01
.121* .15
-.07
11) Job Performance
3.92 1.71 -.09
.126** .122* .138* .144**.245** .341**.250** .497** .332** 1
.130**.129** .17
1
.05
1
.13
.21
1
Notes: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The means, standard deviations and zero-order correlations of all variables involved in this study are
presented in Table 1 above. As shown in the table, Neuroticism (r =. 245** 1, p < .01), extraversion (r =
.341**, p < .01), conscientiousness (r = .332**, p < .01) and job stress (r = .144**, p < .01) were
significantly positively related to interpersonal performance. Furthermore, year of experience (r = .135*, p <
.05), age (r = .126**, p < .01) and current job position (r = .138*, p< .01) were also shown to be significantly
positively related to Job stress.
TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS
FOR VARIABLES PREDICTING JOB PERFORMANCE (N=200)
Variable
Step 1
Gender
Age
Current Job Position
Years of Experience
2
β
∆R
F∆
p
-.07
.232*
.151
-.070
.094
2.518
.046
2
R = .57, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001
Step 2
Job Stress
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
.285**
.342***
.300**
.290**
.320***
.402***
.335
8.886
.000
2
R = .366, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001
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Step 3
Job Stress
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
JSE
JSOE
JSA
JSC
JSN
.220
.416
.425
.931
-.337
.887
.389**
.278*
.498**
-.308**
.556** *
.428
9.535
.000
2
R = .462, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001
A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship between the job stress and job
performance (Refer to Table 2). To examine the causal link between aforesaid predictors and criterion
variables, hierarchal regression analyses was performed. In this analysis age, gender, current job position and
years of experience were entered in the first step of the model and used as a controlled variable. Job
performance was used as dependent variable and the Big Five personality traits were used as independent
variables. Consistent with Hypothesis 1a, a significant (β = .285**, p < .01) positive relationship was found
between job stress and job performance. The hierarchical regression analysis was also used to examine the
interaction of Big Five personality traits with job stress while predicting interpersonal performance. To test
this, the interactive variables between big five personality traits and job stress were added in step 3. However,
all the interactions were found significant. Extraversion (β = .389**, p < .01), Openness to experience (β =
.178*, p < .05), Agreeableness (β = .498**, p < .01), Conscientiousness (β = -.208**, p < .01), and
Neuroticism (β = .237***, p < .001). Therefore, there was a support for Hypothesis 2. Besides, there is an
interesting result shown in step 2 in Table 2. A significant (p < .001) positive relationship was found between
the big five personality traits and job performance that this relationship was not hypothesized.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:
The results of the present study derived from service employees working in the banking sector in Nigeria. In
hypothesis 1a, which states that job stress will relate positively with job performance was supported by the
result of this study. The positive relationship between job stress and job performance originates from the
psychological contract approach between the individual and the employing organization. These results
affirm previous research that shows that when an employee takes the time to go above and beyond their job
description, such as working extra hours or going to company events, this can increase the amount of stress
they feel while at work (Muse Harris & Field, 2003). Here, the individuals are viewed as rational beings who
are primarily concerned with performance because they know that they are being paid for doing the job.
Individuals are expected to ignore the adversities creating hindrances toward better job performance
regardless of whatever happens in the work environment. It is believed that workers will not let their
performances be affected by those happenings. Their performance will remain more or less at the same level
in the presence of high chronic job stress as well as in the absence of it. This segmented view of individuals
even suggests that for the majority of workers in industrial societies, work is not the central life interest
(Taveggia & Kaplan, 1998). Thus, the advocates of this approach view job stress neither as functional
(improved performance) nor dysfunctional (reduced performance), but rather as a neutral state for
individuals’ job performance. In the recent Meta-analysis, 6 (12%) of the 52 empirical studies supported the
existence of the relationship between job stress and job performance.
Acknowledging the result in hypothesis 1b, which states that extraversion personality traits will positively
related to job performance, the result was found to be significantly related to job performance. This result is
in line with what has been found in previous research (Watson & Clark, 1997; Connolly & Viswesvaran,
2000); extraverts have a tendency to be spontaneous, communicative, energetic, positive, and enthusiastic.
Extraverts are also effective analyst of job performance for professions like administrations, social relation
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and sales (Barrick & Mount, 1991). As hypothesized, this study support previous research (Judge and Bono,
2000) who echoed a positive relationship between the openness to experience dimension and job
performance for “training proficiency criterion” which seems to suggest that these individuals are
innovative, caring and insightful (Further, these kinds of individuals have a very optimistic approach for
training and learning experiences (hypothesis 1c). Hypothesis 1d, which states that agreeableness personality
will relate positively with job performance, was supported by this study. However, the result contradict with
previous research (Erdehim et al., 2006), between agreeableness and job performance the correlation is very
weak and similar is the case with the relationship between agreeableness and job satisfaction. This facet of
big five model is related with normative commitments significantly.
In the exploratory Hypothesis 1e: conscientiousness will relate positively with job performance, however, the
result found conscientiousness to be significantly related to job performance. The result collaborates with Barrick
and Mount (1991), people who are high in conscientiousness generally perform better at work than those who are
low in conscientiousness Conscientious individuals can perform their part of the work with a minimum of
oversight (Morgeson, Reider & Campion, 2005). Moreover, conscientious individuals are dependable, efficient,
and hardworking. They are predisposed to take initiative in solving problems and are more methodical and
thorough in their work. It seems reasonable that this trait would result in higher job performance (Morgeson,
Reider & Campion, 2005). As hypothesized, this study also supports previous research (Meyer et al. 2002) that
shows that persistence commitment is negatively correlated to professional performance and neurotics are
positively aligned with persistence performance and commitment to work (Hypothesis 1f).
The regression analysis suggested that job performance can be predicted from openness to experience,
conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness personality as well as job stress. All the big
five personality traits had the same regression result with the research by Barrick et al. (2005) that they
found direct effect on performance. These are traits that might be beneficial to performance depending on
the job or the situation, but they would not necessarily contribute to job performance. Also, for
agreeableness as it was found to be positively related to job performance in the past research (Barrick et al.,
2005), thus further replication and clarification in future research is needed. Lastly, as can be seen from
Table 2, hypothesis 2, there is a moderating effect shown in the regression analysis. Personality is one of
potential type of resource, which helps in dealing the stressful situation in different ways like either by
developing defense mechanism against stress or by avoiding stress or learning handling stress in proper way
by adapting according to the demand of work (Kahn, 1992), as job performance is supposed to increase in
presence of resources and positive personality traits and vice versa. The personality traits act as instrumental
and it boosts performance in such way that the employees have the strength to handle the job demands and
thus minimize the negative effects of stress on the performance (Arnold, Jari, Evangelia & Despoina, 2007).
In summary, the findings of this study suggest that when assessing how effective one is in performing on the
job, all the big five personality traits will be important predictors. Among these traits, the present study
suggests that agreeableness is the most important determinant of job performance in the banking sector.
CONCLUSIONS:
The findings suggest that there is a significant positive relationship between job stress and the big five personality
traits with job performance. Also, the big five personality traits play an important role in moderating the
relationship between job stress and job performance. A strong relationship emerged between agreeableness,
extraversion and conscientiousness with job performance. However, the relationship between neuroticism and
openness to experience is somewhat partial. A moderating effect was also revealed in the regression analysis. The
obtained results were discussed in the light of available theories and researches. Furthermore, the results from this
study have important practical implications in the employee selection process. The results of present study might
be used in enhancing organizational effectiveness and improve staff performance.
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