Conscientiousness and task performance: Test of a cognitive process model.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the effect of the Big Five factor of conscientiousness on task performance was mediated by performance expectancy, performance valence, and goal choice. There were 117 business students who completed 6 subscales of the Personality Research Form (D. N. Jackson, 1987), responded to several self-report measures, and performed a simple arithmetic task. A cognitive process model was tested and supported through LISREL analyses. The effect of conscientiousness on task performance was mediated by performance expectancy and goal choice. Robust effects for performance valence were not observed in this situation. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. The Five Factor Model of Personalty asserts that five broad orthogonal factors consistently account for the common variance observed among measures of individual traits across instruments, samples, and cultures (for a review, see Digman, 1990). These five personality factors are typically referred to as agreeableness, extraversion, emotional stability (or lack of neuroticism), openness to experience, and conscientiousness. Of these, conscientiousness has been shown to consistently predict both work outcomes such as performance and training proficiency and personnel data (e.g., salary level, turnover, and tenure) across occupational groups (Barrick & Mount, 1991). It is less clear how personality characteristics affect on-the-job behaviors. A recent study by Barrick, Mount, and Straus (1993) suggested that high-conscientious salespeople were more likely to engage in autonomous goal setting than were those rated low on this personality dimension. The present study extends this work further by examining the nature of the cognitive process that mediates conscientiousness-performance relations. Clearly, a better understanding of how conscientiousness affects task performance has implications for