Problem 3 – Personality
Lee et al. 2005 - Predicting Workplace Delinquency and Integrity with
the HEXACO and Five-Factor Models of Personality Structure
Type of study: Correlational
Aim: predicting delinquency and integrity in the workplace with HEXACO and Five Factor Model
Background theory
• Five Factor Model / Big Five
• Repeatedly 6 not just 5 dimensions found
• Purpose of this study:
o Review recent evidence from lexical studies and thereby to introduce this new model of
personality structure to personnel researchers
o Address implications of this new structural model for the field of personnel psychology
→ it’s effectivity over FFM
A ROBUST SIX-FACTOR STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY
• FFM derived from lexical studies in English language
• Investigating additional languages and comprehensive sets of trait terms → new results
• 6 traits were found independently in 8 studies involving 7 different languages
• The 6th factor is consistently defined as sincerity, fairness, lack of conceit, and lack of greed
o Reluctance versus a willingness to exploit others
• HEXACO model—an acronym of Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience
THE HEXACO MODEL VERSUS FFM IN PREDICTING WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR
• Workplace delinquency scales and overt integrity tests both consist of admissions of
wrongdoings such as theft, fraud, sabotage, and alcohol or drug use
• Some studies already suggest the limited ability of FFM to predict these variables
o Moderately correlated to Conscientiousness and Agreeableness
• Honesty–Humility was strongly negatively correlated with some existing personality constructs
tapping manipulation and exploitation, such as Machiavellianism, primary psychopathy, and
social adroitness
Method
Participants:
• Workplace delinquency → 3 countries: Australia (N=106), Canada (N=179), and the Netherlands
(N=128)
• Integrity tests → N=164 Canadian students
Hypothesis:
• HEXACO can explain more than FFM
, • The omission of the sixth factor from the FFM is likely to undermine the utility of that model in
predicting workplace deviance and overt integrity test scores.
Measures:
• The HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI)
• Measures of the FFM dimensions
• Workplace delinquency - Workplace Behavior Questionnaire
• Overt integrity test - The Employee Integrity Index – only to Canadian Sample B
Results
• Across the four samples recruited from the three different countries, HEXACO-PI Honesty–
Humility showed the strongest correlations with workplace delinquency, surpassing the values
yielded by the other HEXACO-PI scales and by the FFM variables
• The six HEXACO-PI scales produced much higher multiple correlations with the dependent
variable than did measures of the Big Five factors
• Honesty–Humility construct was primarily responsible for the predictive superiority associated
with the HEXACO model
Conclusion
• Addition of Honesty-Humility dimension → HEXACO significantly outperformed FFM in
workplace delinquency and integrity
• Predictive superiority of the HEXACO over the FFM was found in 3 different countries and with 3
different measures of the Big Five
• Limitations:
o An alternative interpretation of the strong correlations between Honesty–Humility and
the criterion variables of this study is that these relations merely reflect shared method
variance due to self-report
o Another potential limitation of this study might be that student samples were used
rather than samples of older, nonstudent employees
o Predictive validity of broad factors versus that of the narrow facets that constitute
those factors
Jonason et al. 2014 - Occupational niches and the Dark Triad traits
Type of study: cross-sectional study
Aim: to investigate whether vocational interests correlate with the Dark Triad traits
Background theory
• Dark Triad:
o Narcissism: entitlement, superiority, dominance
▪ Correlates with unethical behavior in CEOs & a great need of power
o Machiavellianism: superficial social charm, manipulativeness
▪ Less organizational, supervisor and team commitment
o Psychopathy: insensitive social attitudes, impulsivity, and interpersonal antagonism
▪ Feel diminished levels of workplace responsibility (which can affect productivity)