The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mentor characteristics (i.e., motivational tendencies, personality traits), mentoring provided, and protégé outcomes. A motivational approach was taken, in the sense that motives to mentor, as well as personality characteristics of the mentor, were considered in regard to their ability to predict the type of mentoring provided and outcomes for the protégé. Specifically, the potential relationships between personality traits (Intrinsic Motivation, Learning Goal Orientation, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Machiavellianism) and mentor motives, as well as the provision of career and psychosocial mentoring, were examined. In addition, the current study examined the ability of mentor characteristics to predict several protégé outcomes. Ninety-one mentors (i.e., college juniors and seniors) were paired with 91 protégé (i.e., college freshmen) and were asked to meet for a half hour each week for four consecutive weeks. Self-report measures were collected from both mentors and protégés before the mentoring sessions began (T1) and after (T2) they were completed to determine the effect of having a mentor on various outcomes. All mentoring sessions were videotaped so that trained raters could code the type of mentoring behaviors that occurred within a given session. Results were analyzed via correlational analyses, exploratory regression analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses. Individuals who were generally more intrinsically motivated and learning goal oriented reported being more motivated to mentor others for intrinsic satisfaction reasons. Mentors who were more extraverted and agreeable than their peers reported being more motivated to mentor in order to benefit others. In addition, having a mentor who provided career mentoring reduced school-related stress for a protégé. The key findings of the current study provide support for the view that personality and motivational characteristics of the mentor affect the type of mentoring provided, albeit indirectly in some cases. In addition, it is important to consider multiple sources of mentoring data provided (i.e., mentor, protégé,independent rater) rather than just the protégé's point of view because this will provide a more well-rounded picture of the mentoring relationship, as well as identify potential gaps in perception that may exist between mentors and protégés.

Research on vocational behavior has made progress in identifying broad personality traits associated with career indecision; however, important questions remain unanswered about the temporal stability of relationships between broad personality traits and Career Decidedness (CD), and about the role of narrow personality traits as predictors of CD, both of which were addressed in this longitudinal field study. A total of 2,046 undergraduate students completed an online personality inventory and CD questionnaire. A sub-group (N=267) responded to a follow-up questionnaire seven months later. Results indicated, as hypothesized, that CD correlated positively with the broad (Big Five) personality traits, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. However, CD did not correlate as expected with the broad trait, extraversion, and correlated significantly and inversely with the broad trait, neuroticism, only for low-achievement students. Results showed that the narrow traits of optimism and work drive correlated significantly and positively with CD, and that these narrow traits accounted for more variance in CD (11.2%) than broad traits (.5%). CD correlated positively with chronological age, as predicted. However, Career Decidedness only increased through the first three of four years of college, and contrary to predictions, showed a non-significant decline in the senior year. In an unexpected finding based only on the sub-group who completed the second set of questionnaires, the relationship of personality and CD strengthened over the 7-month span of this study, yet instability within CD warrants caution. Results suggest questions for future research and implications for practice in vocational psychology.

<p>The interpretation of this qualitative study indicates that individuals, teams and the organisation can benefit through allowing focus of unlocking that which provides a positive stimulus during challenging times in organisational settings. For social scientists, and in particular behavioural scientists, including industrial psychologists that are interested in positive psychology, it is hoped that there is an invitation to grow this area of research further and to gain new insights and direction for what are the enablers to experience positive change and gratitude.</p>

AbstractAuthor: Sofie JakobssonCourse: Media and Communication Studies CUniversity: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityPeriod: Spring 2012Key words: Job ads, Professional Communicator, Public Relations Officer, Trait Theory, Five Factor Theory, Big Five, personal traits, work tasks.Title: The Independent Specialist. A study of requested personal types in Professional Communicators.Number of pages: 35Purpose/ Aim: The study aims to evaluate what kind of personality type that would make a good fit for a Professional Communicator. The study examines personal traits and work tasks that are presented in job ads for Professional Communicators in Sweden today. From this material the author wants to calculate what kind of personal type that characterize the profession with the help of the Big Five theory.Material/ Method: Quantitative research method based on job ads.Main results: The study shows that personal traits that employers look for in Professional Communicators today are mainly traits from the Conscientiousness group with characteristics such as independent, structured and planning. The second biggest personality group is Extraversion where personal traits like driving, outgoing and social were put. The results also indicate that the professional should enjoy working independently but also be able to cooperate with other people. A big part of the profession involves tasks which are of a producing nature which indicates that a talent or personality that fits for that kind of tasks is to prefer.

Anställningsbarhet är ett begrepp som blommat upp under slutet på 1900-talet. Att varaanställningsbar innebär att ha förmågan att få, behålla och vid behov skaffa sig ett nytt arbete.Det finns två faktorer som påverkar en individs anställningsbarhet, formell kompetens ochinformell kompetens. Vi har intervjuat sex rekryterare i Stockholms län med syftet att belysaderas syn på hur informell kompetens påverkar anställningsbarhet. Vi har ställt öppna frågorsom bland annat syftat till att ta reda på vad som gör en individ anställningsbar när den formellakompetensen är uppfylld samt hur viktigt informell kompetens är i förhållande till formellkompetens. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att det enligt de intervjuade rekryterarna framförallt finns tre typer av informell kompetens: (1) social kompetens, (2) inställning till arbetet och(3) personlighet. Resultatet visar även att informell kompetens i många fall är viktigare änformell kompetens. Vi har också identifierat två olika tekniker för att, i en anställningsintervju,bedöma den arbetssökandes informella kompetens, den reflekterande och den intutiva.

The present study investigated the role of anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment and big five personality traits in adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism. A pilot study was carried out with 408 (260 males and 148 females) preparatory school students of Middle East Technical University (METU) for the adaptation studies of Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R). The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a 21 item scale with three factors / Standards, Discrepancy and Order. The results of convergent and divergent and criterion-related validity studies revealed evidence for the adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism. As for the main purpose of the study, three questionnaires, namely APS-R, Relationship Scales Questionnaire and Big Five Inventory were administered to 604 (377 males and 227 females) preparatory school students of METU. The results of three multiple regression analysis revealed that adaptive perfectionism as measured by Standards scores was significantly predicted by Conscientiousness, Openness and Extraversion. Maladaptive perfectionism as measured by Discrepancy scores was predicted by Neuroticism, Anxiety and Avoidance dimensions of attachment. Order scores used as an additional analysis were found to be predicted by Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness.

The present study aimed to explore both situational (Emotional Display Rules and Affective Events) and dispositional antecedents (Four of Big Five personality dimensions / Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness) of emotional labor. Potential interaction effects of situational and dispositional variables on emotional labor / and long-term consequences of the construct were also examined. Data were collected from table servers working in caf&eacute / s, restaurants, and hotels in Ankara, Istanbul, Kusadasi, (Aydin) and Antalya. The study was performed in three stages. In the first stage, diary study was conducted and Affective Events Scale was created for the service work. In the second stage, psychometric properties of the new scale were pilot tested. In the main study, reliabilities of the scales, hypotheses and potential moderation effects were tested with a total sample of 254 employees. Results revealed that emotional display rules were a significant predictor of both surface and deep acting. Positive events positively predicted emotional labor. Among dispositional antecedents, agreeableness was the only dimension that predicted surface acting. Deep acting was predicted by all of the personality dimensions utilized in the study, especially by agreeableness. On the other hand,conscientiousness had a marginally significant moderation effect on the relationship between emotional display rules and surface acting. With respect to consequences of emotional labor, both surface acting and deep acting positively predicted personal accomplishment. Deep acting was also positively related to job satisfaction, and negatively related to turnover intentions. Findings discussed and practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research were presented.

Today, computers and communications have changed the relationship among firms, the structure of some existing companies, the advancement of information technology (IT), and increased competition among enterprises. IT plays an important role in enterprise. IT Managers face global competition, and therefore, must be prepared to respond to abrupt changes. They need to ensure their capabilities and resources are sufficient to cope with the environmental challenges that arise. Therefore, this research will concentrate on investigating the relationships among empowerment, leadership style, personality of IT manager and IT department performance. The moderating effects of organizational culture and organizational structure on the relationship between IT manager characteristics and IT department performance are also considered in the study. The result shows four major findings. First, empowerment of IT manager has a significant positive effect on IT department performance. Second, the presence of a transformational leadership style of IT manager has positive effects on IT department performance. Third, IT managers classified as Internal LOC have significantly higher departmental performance than IT managers classified as External LOC. Finally, organizational culture and organizational structure were shown to have no moderating effect between empowerment of IT manager and IT department performance. The findings of this research can serve as a reference for organizations to improve selection of managers with potential for improving department performance.

This dissertation examines heterogeneity in the value of a statistical life (henceforth VSL) stemming from employer-provided health insurance (henceforth EHI) and worker sorting. The dissertation consists of three essays. In the first essay (Chapter 2), I investigate the effect of health-driven productivity on the wage compensation for mortality risk, and how EHI influences VSL using the US labor market data. In this chapter I build a framework showing that the level of job risks influences the incentive of employers to provide EHI. The basic notion of the framework is that health insurance is an investment in health and health is a form of general human capital. Employers are willing to invest in employees' health and pay the associated costs as long as they can recoup the costs of health investment. Occupational hazards, however, are harmful to health; productivity gains from health tend to decline as risk increases, resulting in lower health investment made by employers. As a result, the workers in risky jobs have to contribute more to their health investment in the form of lower wages than do workers in safe jobs. This behavioral response pushes down the wage offer curve of the insured in high risk occupations. Consequently, workers with health insurance, on average, accept a lower risk premium, leading to a lower VSL. Empirical findings from this dissertation suggest evidence of heterogeneity in VSL due to health insurance status: the estimated VSL for workers with health insurance is lower than those without one. In the second essay (Chapter 3), I extend the framework of the second chapter into the United Kingdom (the UK) labor market. Different from the US, the UK has universal health care system in which all eligible individuals (almost all the UK citizens) are covered by publicly-provided health care. This chapter also provides evidence that private medical insurance in the universal health care system affects the risk premium. Despite the fact that the UK and the US have different institutional settings in health coverage, findings from the UK are, to some extent, qualitatively similar to the US. A major issue in estimates of VSL is that people are not randomly assigned to jobs. That is, heterogeneous people would sort into jobs based on their preferences on risk and safety-related skills. Thus, failure to account for heterogeneity in both risk preferences and safety-related skills will bias the estimated VSL. In the third essay (Chapter 4), I discuss worker sorting and how it may affect the mortality risk premium. In this chapter, I focus on the role of personality traits in safety-related skill and their influence on worker sorting based on job risk. I use Five-Factor Model of personality or also known as the ‘’Big Five” personality traits. The big 5 personality traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. In my framework, these personality traits are inputs and the technology of skill formation transforms the traits into safety-related skill.

Changes in South Africa's political and economic sphere demand the democratisation of the workplace, participation and empowerment of the work force. Flatter hierarchical structures, as a result of downsizing, enhance involvement but also demand that workers function in a more autonomous manner. The use of self-managing work teams has increased in response to these competitive challenges. Self-managing work teams are groups of employees who are fully responsible for a well-defined segment of finished work that delivers a product or a service to an internal or external customer. The functioning of self-managing work teams, in terms of the systems model, can be described as certain inputs that help the team to perform certain tasks and follow processes in order to achieve certain outputs. Inputs include the motivation, skills and personality factors of team members, while the tasks and processes refer to problem solving, conflict resolution, communication and decision making, planning, quality control, dividing of tasks, training and performance appraisal. These inputs and processes lead to outputs such as efficiency, productivity and quality of work life. To date empirical studies regarding self-managing work teams in South Africa focused on the readiness of organisations for implementing these teams. Little research has been done on characteristics of successful self-managed work group members. Findings regarding members of self-managing work teams elsewhere in the world couldn't uncritically be applied to South Africa, because of widely different circumstances. Research on dispositional factors such as sense of coherence, self-efficacy, locus of control and the big five personality dimensions could therefore help to identify predictors of effectiveness that can be validated in consecutive studies for selection purposes in a self-managing work team context in South Africa. The objective of the research was therefore to determine the relationship between dispositional characteristics of members of a self-managing work team and the effectiveness and quality of work life of these members. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample included members of self-managing work teams (N = 102) from a large chemical organisation and a financial institution in South Africa. The Orientation to Life Questionnaire, a Self-efficacy Scale, the Locus of Control Questionnaire and Personality Characteristics Inventory were used to measure the dispositional variables. Quality of work life (measured as consisting of satisfaction, commitment to the organisation and commitment to the team) and self-rated team member effectiveness were used as dependent variables. Descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlations, canonical correlations and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the data and investigate the relationships between the various dispositional characteristics quality of work life and effectiveness of the team members. The results showed practically significant positive relationships between sense of coherence, self-efficacy, autonomy, external locus of control and internal locus of control on the one hand, and quality of work life and effectiveness of the team members of self-managing work teams on the other hand. Of the big five personality dimensions only openness was associated with commitment to the team in terms of the quality of work life. Stability, extraversion and openness were associated with the self-rated effectiveness of the team members of self-managing work teams. The structural equation modelling showed that there is a positive path from the dispositional characteristics to the satisfaction, commitment and self-rated effectiveness of the team members. The dispositional characteristics will also enhance the members' experience of role clarity and mediate the effects of job-induced tension on the members' self-rated effectiveness. Satisfaction of the team members moderate the relationship between the dispositional characteristics and commitment, as well as mediate the effects of job-induced tension on the commitment of the team members. Organisations implementing self-managing work teams can benefit from developing and enhancing these dispositional characteristics in their selected team members and could also validate these dispositional characteristics in terms of selection criteria for self-managing work team members. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.