Broad and narrow personality traits for predicting managerial success

Research concerning the relationship between personality and job performance has been largely conducted within the framework of the broad Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five Factor Inventory. Professional Manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. [Google Scholar]). In contrast, the validity of narrow traits has not been adequately addressed. We examined the extent to which narrow personality traits contribute to the prediction of managerial success beyond the Big Five. To this end, 130 managers provided personality data on the Big Five and five narrow-band personality traits. Managerial success was measured by income and promotion rate, supervisor ratings on contextual and task performance, as well as self-rating of job satisfaction. The results suggest that narrow traits add incremental validity over and beyond the Big Five for income and supervisor ratings, yet the degree to which they contribute depends on the criteria used. However, no increase in validity was registered for job satisfaction and promotion rate. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of previous research.