Principles of Organizational Behavior, 3rd Edition

2SELECT ON CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY

MICHAEL K. MOUNT¹ AND MURRAY R. BARRICK²

¹ University of IOWA

² Texas A & M

SELECT ON CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY

The previous chapter clearly demonstrated that intelligence is a strong predictor of job performance. But hiring smart people is not enough. Many important work behaviors that are critical for organizational success are influenced by employees' work motivation rather than their intelligence. For example, motivated employees persist in the pursuit of goals, complete work thoroughly and accurately, work well under stress, display positive work attitudes, demonstrate honesty and integrity, are more likely to remain with the firm, and are helpful organizational citizens. A major determinant of motivated work behaviors is the underlying personality traits of individuals. The general principle that we advocate in this chapter is that organizations should select employees based on the personality traits of conscientiousness and emotional stability. A subprinciple is that organizations should select employees based on other personality traits (agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience) depending on the specific requirements of the job. We discuss the broad and diverse outcomes predicted by conscientiousness and emotional stability, how conscientiousness and emotional stability predict work outcomes, exceptions to the general principle, legal issues, and best practices for implementation, along ...