There is relatively little research based on the Big Five personality dimensions and job satisfaction and the relationship thereof. Job satisfaction of employees is a good indication of organisational effectiveness and is influenced by organisational and dispositional factors. The fundamental nature of the dispositional approach is that individuals have stable traits that significantly influence their affective and behavioural reactions to organisational settings. Job satisfaction can be considered a general feeling of well-being experienced by any employee about the work he or she does or as a related collection of attitudes about various aspects of the job. Employees, who perform at higher levels, will most likely make a greater contribution in the organisation. These individual's are more likely to achieve greater status; thus the importance of having satisfied employees in any organisation. The general objective of this study was to determine the relationship between personality dimensions and job satisfaction of engineers in a petro-chemical organisation. A cross-sectional survey design was used in the empirical study. The sample consisted of 89 junior to middle level engineers within a petro-chemical organisation. The Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the Personality Characteristics Inventory (PCI) were administered. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Cronbach alpha coefficients, inter-item correlation coefficients and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the measuring instruments. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to specify the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine which personality dimensions were the best predictors of job satisfaction. The current research found that employees who are more stable and introverted tend to be more satisfied with achievement, independence as well as human and technical supervision at the work place. It was also established that extraverted and sociable individuals in the organization are less satisfied with human supervision. The findings of this research showed that some personality dimensions are related to aspects of job satisfaction However, overall personality dimensions explained relatively small percentages in the variance of job satisfaction. Because of this, the situational frame of reference, which is most common at present within the workplace, as well as the frame of reference that most supports this research, job satisfaction/dissatisfaction, is alleged to result from the nature of the job or h m the conditions at work. This basically epitomizes the effects of situational forces on workers' job attitudes. The results showed that subscales predicted job satisfaction to a greater extent than personality dimensions. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

This research focuses to develop some new techniques on statistical learning including methodology, computation and application. We also developed statistical quantification in nanomaterials. For a large number of random variables with temporal or spatial structures, we proposed shrink estimates of covariance matrix to account their Markov structures. The proposed method exploits the sparsity in the inverse covariance matrix in a systematic fashion. To deal with high dimensional data, we proposed a robust kernel principal component analysis for dimension reduction, which can extract the nonlinear structure of high dimension data more robustly. To build a prediction model more efficiently, we developed an active learning via sequential design to actively select the data points into the training set. By combining the stochastic approximation and D-optimal designs, the proposed method can build model with minimal time and effort. We also proposed factor logit-models with a large number of categories for classification. We show that the convergence rate of the classifier functions estimated from the proposed factor model does not rely on the number of categories, but only on the number of factors. It therefore can achieve better classification accuracy. For the statistical nano-quantification, a statistical approach is presented to quantify the elastic deformation of nanomaterials. We proposed a new statistical modeling technique, called sequential profile adjustment by regression (SPAR), to account for and eliminate the various experimental errors and artifacts. SPAR can automatically detect and remove the systematic errors and therefore gives more precise estimation of the elastic modulus.

A substantial body of literature links precarious employment with increased exposure to occupational hazards and adverse OHS outcomes. While a majority of these studies has found that precarious work has adverse effects on OHS outcomes, findings are more mixed with regard to temporary employment (the focus of this study), and there are still many gaps in the research that have yet to be addressed. Various models have been proposed in an attempt to explain the causal mechanisms behind the health effects of precarious employment. However, relatively few studies have empirically investigated these mechanisms. There is also a dearth of research on the effects of precarious work on OHS outcomes in parts of the service sector, such as hospitality, despite the fact that these industries make extensive use of precarious work arrangements. Further, few studies have been based on international comparative data (and even fewer where the focus has been on a particular industry). This thesis seeks to address these gaps by investigating OHS outcomes of hotel workers engaged under different employment arrangements in Ireland and Australia. There are two principle objectives to the study. The first is to examine OHS outcomes, while the second is to test and refine the Quinlan, Mayhew and Bohle (2001) Three Factor Model in an attempt to explain the links between health and precarious employment. It also aims to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms by which these factors interact to influence outcomes. This study defines and tests a health and injury structural model. The structural equation modelling techniques employed have not been used in previous studies in this area and provide a clearer portrayal of the complex relationships between the many variables affecting the OHS of precarious employees in the hotel industry. The OHS outcomes range from exposure to occupational violence and stress to a wide variety of debilitating physical ailments. This research also highlights several indirect or spillover effects of precarious employment. The inconsistencies between both locations are mainly regarding perceived job security, economic and reward pressures and lack of control over working hours. Despite these differences, there are basic similarities between the locations that are important.

Abstract The aim of this study was to understand the relationships among the personality traits, risk attitudes, risk management practices, and decision making processes of dairy farmers in SE Queensland. Risk management and decision making processes are two of many components of managerial ability. The hypothesis was proposed that dairy farmers’ personalities influence their risk attitudes, decision making processes, and risk management abilities. Case studies of 46 dairy farmers in SE Queensland involving the completion of personality inventories (NEO-PI-R) based on the Five-Factor Model of personality; questionnaires and informal interviews were used to test the hypotheses. The thesis contains three parts. The first part, Chapter 1, is the introduction to the thesis. The second part of the thesis, Chapter 2 through Chapter 6, consists of an extensive review of the literature on the major topics pertinent to the project. In Chapter 2, a definition of “competence” in the context of this study is given, and an explanation of the evidence for a connection between personality and competence and thus job performance is detailed. In Chapter 3, the literature on personality is reviewed with particular emphasis on trait theory and the development of the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM). In Chapter 4, the literature review on personality assessment using testing instruments designed for use in the context of the FFM is presented, and the rationale for the personality test instrument is expounded. It is the task of the manager to manage risk, so that considering risk attitude when making decisions is also an integral part of the study of the role of managers. Chapter 5 reviews the contemporary literature on risk and risk management with an emphasis on the application of risk management principles to dairy farms. In Chapter 6, the literature on decision theory is reviewed. Decision-making and risk management are intertwined. The behaviour resulting from the process of making a decision reflects the personality and risk attitude of the decision-maker. In this chapter, the distinction is made between formal and informal models of decision making, and examples are given. The third part of the project comprises Chapters 7 through Chapter 11. Chapter 7 outlines the research approach used – case studies - and paves the way for the following two chapters, which present a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of the data from the case studies. Chapter 8 presents part 1 of the investigation - the qualitative analysis of the case studies. This chapter introduces and explains the terminology used in the questionnaire and examines the trends and feeling in the farmers’ answers. Chapter 9 presents part 2 of the analysis – quantitative results of the personality assessments and interviews from the case studies with SE Queensland dairy farmers which were conducted to assess their risk management and decision making abilities. Chapter 10 provides a summary of the research findings, and then discusses the results with respect to the diverse responses of farmers to common external pressures. The chapter discusses the relevance of personality to the formation of management strategy and concludes with a short introduction to systems thinking as a way of thinking about the complex systems inherent in dairy farming. Chapter 11 reviews the subjects covered in the thesis and draws conclusions from the research. It outlines implications for policy makers and managers and proposes directions for further research in this area of investigation. Key Words: Five-Factor Model of Personality, risk, decision making processes, dairy farmers, management

Esse projeto visou a construção, validação e normatização de escalas para a avaliação dos Fatores Extroversão e Socialização no modelo dos Cinco Grandes Fatores de Personalidade. A partir deste Modelo, Socialização é uma dimensão da personalidade que agrupa traços como altruísmo, franqueza, confiança nas pessoas, bem como frieza, falta de empatia, comportamentos antisociais, etc. Extroversão engloba traços que descrevem nível de comunicação, assertividade, gregariedade, busca por diversão, etc. A validade de construto da Escala Fatorial de Socialização (EFS) e Escala Fatorial de Extroversão (EFE) foi realizada a partir de amostras independentes compostas por aproximadamente 1.100 pessoas de cinco estados brasileiros, de ambos os sexos, com nível de escolarização médio ou superior. Foram realizadas análises fatoriais para a verificação da dimensionalidade da EFS, sendo que a solução de três fatores foi considerada a mais adequada. Os fatores extraídos foram denominados Amabilidade, Pró-sociabilidade e Confiança nas pessoas, com Alpha’s de 0,91; 0,84 e 0,80 respectivamente. A escala geral apresentou uma consistência interna de 0,92. Foram realizadas análises fatoriais para a verificação da dimensionalidade da EFE, sendo que a solução de quatro fatores foi considerada a mais adequada. Os fatores extraídos foram denominados Comunicação, Altivez, Assertividade, Interação Social, com Alpha’s de 0,90; 0,78; 0,78 e 0,83 respectivamente. A escala geral apresentou uma consistência interna de 0,91. / The present project aimed the development, validation and standardization of scales to measure Extraversion and Agreeableness in the Five Factor Model of Personality. In this model, Agreeableness is comprised by traits that describe altruism, straightforwardness, trust in people, as well as coldness, antisocial behavior, among others. Extraversion includes traits that describe level of communication, assertivity, gregariousness, search for pleasure, among others. The participants in the construct validity study of the Agreeableness Factorial Scale (EFS) and Extraversion Factorial Scale (EFE) were approximately 1.100 individuals, from five States in Brazil, of both sexes, with high school or university level of education. Factor analyses were conducted to determine the EFS dimensions. A 3-factor solution was found to be more adequate. The factors found were named: Amiableness, Pro-social behavior, and Trust. Cronbach’s alphas were .91, .84, and .80 respectively. The general scale presented an internal consistency level of .92. Factor analyses were also conducted to verify the EFE dimensions. A 4-factor solution was found to be more adequate. The factors found were named: Communication, Pride, Assertiveness, and Social Interaction. Cronbach’s alphas were .90, .78, .78, and .83 respectively. The general scale presented internal consistency level of .91.

Personality tests are often utilized in employment selection. Their wide use may be attributed to various studies which suggest that personality is related to job performance. Although personality is widely utilized in various assessment contexts including but not limited to personnel selection settings, both researcher and practitioners continue to criticize the use of measures due to faking behavior or response distortion. Furthermore, these criticisms are warranted because laboratory studies have consistently found that when instructed, respondents are able to alter their scores in order to appear more desirable. Additionally, there is also conforming evidence from field studies which suggest that 20 - 30% of real-world applicants fake in order to gain a competitive advantage in being hired. Faking studies generally define successful faking as the obtainment of the highest scores possible. This study used a recent and alternative conceptualization of successful faking. More specifically, faking is defined as successful if an applicant is able to match his or her responses on a personality test to the perception of what subject matter experts would consider critical traits for success to that job. Psychology and Business students were assigned to an `honest' or `faking' condition and asked to complete a personality test. Students in the honest condition were instructed to describe themselves honest, while students in the faking condition were instructed to describe themselves in the context of applying for a fictional customer service representative position. Additionally, all students completed a measure of emotional intelligence and cognitive ability. Subject matter experts were then surveyed on what they thought was the ideal characteristics for the fictitious position. This study found that business students who were given instructions to fake were able to fake better (obtain a greater match) than psychology students instructed to fake. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as job familiarity, cognitive ability, and emotional intelligence were examined in relation to faking success. Results indicated that only emotional intelligence was predictive of similarity. Moreover, the subscales of use of emotions and regulation of emotions were predicative of similarity. Finally, the limitations of the study and implications of results are presented and discussed further.

Esse projeto visou a construção, validação e normatização de escalas para a avaliação dos Fatores Extroversão e Socialização no modelo dos Cinco Grandes Fatores de Personalidade. A partir deste Modelo, Socialização é uma dimensão da personalidade que agrupa traços como altruísmo, franqueza, confiança nas pessoas, bem como frieza, falta de empatia, comportamentos antisociais, etc. Extroversão engloba traços que descrevem nível de comunicação, assertividade, gregariedade, busca por diversão, etc. A validade de construto da Escala Fatorial de Socialização (EFS) e Escala Fatorial de Extroversão (EFE) foi realizada a partir de amostras independentes compostas por aproximadamente 1.100 pessoas de cinco estados brasileiros, de ambos os sexos, com nível de escolarização médio ou superior. Foram realizadas análises fatoriais para a verificação da dimensionalidade da EFS, sendo que a solução de três fatores foi considerada a mais adequada. Os fatores extraídos foram denominados Amabilidade, Pró-sociabilidade e Confiança nas pessoas, com Alpha’s de 0,91; 0,84 e 0,80 respectivamente. A escala geral apresentou uma consistência interna de 0,92. Foram realizadas análises fatoriais para a verificação da dimensionalidade da EFE, sendo que a solução de quatro fatores foi considerada a mais adequada. Os fatores extraídos foram denominados Comunicação, Altivez, Assertividade, Interação Social, com Alpha’s de 0,90; 0,78; 0,78 e 0,83 respectivamente. A escala geral apresentou uma consistência interna de 0,91. / The present project aimed the development, validation and standardization of scales to measure Extraversion and Agreeableness in the Five Factor Model of Personality. In this model, Agreeableness is comprised by traits that describe altruism, straightforwardness, trust in people, as well as coldness, antisocial behavior, among others. Extraversion includes traits that describe level of communication, assertivity, gregariousness, search for pleasure, among others. The participants in the construct validity study of the Agreeableness Factorial Scale (EFS) and Extraversion Factorial Scale (EFE) were approximately 1.100 individuals, from five States in Brazil, of both sexes, with high school or university level of education. Factor analyses were conducted to determine the EFS dimensions. A 3-factor solution was found to be more adequate. The factors found were named: Amiableness, Pro-social behavior, and Trust. Cronbach’s alphas were .91, .84, and .80 respectively. The general scale presented an internal consistency level of .92. Factor analyses were also conducted to verify the EFE dimensions. A 4-factor solution was found to be more adequate. The factors found were named: Communication, Pride, Assertiveness, and Social Interaction. Cronbach’s alphas were .90, .78, .78, and .83 respectively. The general scale presented internal consistency level of .91.

Fear of failure (FF) har negativ påverkan på individers motivation, val av arbete, prestationsförmåga och allmänt välbefinnande och kan uppstå när människor skall ta olika beslut. Vår studie avsåg att undersöka om fear of failure kan förklaras av personlighet och om det fanns andra påverkansfaktorer, så som socioekonomisk status, ålder och kön. En kvantitativ metod användes och datainsamlingen skedde via en webbaserad enkät innehållande 62 frågor. Deltagarna i studien (N = 153), bestod av 115 kvinnor (75%) och 38 män (25%). IPIP-30 användes för att mäta personlighet och Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) användes för att mäta fear of failure. Resultatet visade i regressionsanalys ett mycket starkt statistiskt signifikant samband (r = .69) mellan fear of failure och personlighetsfaktorn neuroticism, samt att det kunde förklara ≈ 53% av variansen inom fear of failure. Resultatet var förvånansvärt starkt och tydligt och visade på ett övertygande sätt att personlighet förklarade en stor del av innehållet i det begrepp som kallas "fear of failure". Vår slutsats är därför att fear of failure som begrepp, tillsammans med tillhörande mätinstrument (PFAI-skalan), blir överflödigt och kan istället ersättas av personlighetsfaktorerna i femfaktormodellen. / Fear of failure (FF) has a negative impact on individuals' motivation, choice of occupation, ability to work and general well-being and can occur when people make different decisions. Our study was designed to investigate whether fear of failure can be explained by personality and whether there were other factors of influence such as socioeconomic status, age and sex. A quantitative method was used, and data collection was conducted via a web-based survey containing 62 questions. The participants in the study (N = 153) consisted of 115 women (75%) and 38 men (25%). IPIP-30 was used to measure personality and the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) was used to measure fear of failure. The result showed in regression analysis a very strong statistically significant relationship (r = .69) between fear of failure and the personality factor neuroticism, and that it could explain ≈ 53% of the variance in fear of failure. The result was surprisingly strong and clear and showed convincingly that personality explained a large part of the content of the term called "fear of failure". Our conclusion is therefore that fear of failure as a concept, together with the associated measuring instrument (PFAI scale) becomes superfluous and can instead be replaced by the personality in the five-factor model.

The estimation results of Brazilian risk premia are not robust in the literature. For instance, among the 133 market risk premium estimates reported on the literature, 41 are positives, 18 are negatives and the remainder are not significant. In this study, we investigate the grounds for this lack of consensus. First of all, we analyze the sensitivity of the US risk premia estimation to two relevant constraints present in the Brazilian market: the small number of assets (137 eligible stocks) and the short time-series sample available for estimation (14 years). We conclude that the second constrain, small T, has greater impact on the results. Following, we evaluate the two potential causes of problems for the risk premia estimation with small T: i) small sample bias on betas; ii) divergence between ex-post and ex-ante risk premia. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we conclude that for the T available for Brazil, the betas estimates are no longer a problem. However, it is necessary to wait until 2041 to be able to estimate ex-ante risk premia with Brazilian data. / Os resultados das estimações de prêmios de risco brasileiros não são robustos na literatura. Por exemplo, dentre 133 estimativas de prêmio de risco de mercado documentadas, 41 são positivas, 18 negativas e o restante não é significante. No presente trabalho, investigamos os motivos da falta de consenso. Primeiramente, analisamos a sensibilidade da estimação dos prêmios de risco norte-americanos a duas restrições presentes no mercado brasileiro: o baixo número de ativos (137 ações elegíveis) e a pequena quantidade de meses disponíveis para estimação (14 anos). Concluímos que a segunda restrição, T pequeno, tem maior impacto sobre os resultados. Em seguida, avaliamos as duas potenciais causas de problemas para a estimação de prêmios de risco em amostras com T pequeno: i) viés de pequenas amostras nas estimativas dos betas; e ii) divergência entre prêmio de risco ex-post e ex-ante. Através de exercícios de Monte Carlo, concluímos que para o T disponível no Brasil, a estimativa dos betas já não é mais um problema. No entanto, ainda precisamos esperar até 2041 para conseguirmos estimar corretamente os prêmios ex-ante com os dados brasileiros.

The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality is the most psychometrically supported taxonomies of personality in psychology. Widely applicable and scalable in its implementation, it is increasingly becoming integrated into the literature regarding sports psychology. This literature review examines the role of the FFM (or “Big 5” model) in profiling elite athletes competing at the national or international level. Studies are scrutinized by design and analytical methods, and comparisons are drawn on that basis and on the basis of their findings. The review argues for further research into specifically the personality of elite athletes as compared to less competent ones, more longitudinal studies, and adoption of the model by elite athletic associations looking to attract and cultivate athletic talent.