With the continued lower employment rate for persons with disabilities, researchers are focusing more on barriers to employment that reach beyond functional impairment. Personality and self-efficacy have consistently been important factors when considering employment outcomes for persons without disability; less is known about these factors as they relate to job tenure in samples of people with disabilities. A sample of 56 individuals eligible for vocational rehabilitation services was used to investigate the relationship among personality, work behavior efficacy, and length of prior employment. Results of this study revealed that work behavior efficacy and personality are related to length of prior employment. Personality was found to account for a significant amount of variance in work behavior efficacy, and personality was a stronger predictor of length of prior employment over work behavior efficacy. Specifically, the personality trait openness significantly contributed to length of prior employment, and openness and neuroticism significantly contributed to length of prior employment among persons with low education. A discussion of the dynamic nature of personality as it relates to persons with disabilities and employment is included.
ArbonaC. (2000). Practice and research in career counseling and development—1999. Career Development Quarterly, 49, 98–134.
2.
BanduraA. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
BanduraA. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
BaronR.KennyD. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychology research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
5.
BarrickM. R.MountM. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26.
6.
BenedictR. H. B.WahligaE.BakshicR.FishmanaI.MunschaueraF.ZivadinovaR.Weinsock-GuttmanaB. (2005). Predicting quality of life in multiple sclerosis: Accounting for physical disability, fatigue, cognition, mood disorder, personality, and behavior change. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 231, 29–34.
7.
BluesteinD. L. (2006). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development, counseling, and public policy. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
8.
BretzR.JudgeT. (1994). Person-organization fit and the theory of work adjustment: Implications for satisfaction, tenure, and career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 32-54.
CostaP. T.Jr.McCraeR. R. (1992). The revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PIR) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
11.
Dawis & Lofquist. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
12.
De FruytF.MervieldeI. (1999). RIASEC types and Big Five traits as predictors of employment status and nature of employment. Personnel Psychology, 52, 701–727.
13.
De RaadB. (2000). The Big Five personality factors: The psycholexical approach to personality. Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.
14.
DenisonE.ÅsenlöfP.SandborghM.LindbergP. (2007). Musculoskeletal pain in primary health care: Subgroups based on pain intensity, disability, self-efficacy, and fear-avoidance variables. Journal of Pain, 8(1), 67–74.
15.
FraleyR. C.RobertsB. W. (2005). Patterns of continuity: A dynamic model for conceptualizing the stability of individual differences in psychological constructs across the life course. Psychological Review, 112, 60–74.
16.
FurnhamA.PetridesK. V.JacksonC. J.CotterT. (2002). Do personality factors predict job satisfaction?Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1325–1342.
17.
GrantB. F.HasinD. S.StinsonF. S.DawsonD. A.ChouS. P.RuanW. J.PickeringR. P. (2004). Prevalence, correlates, and disability of personality disorders in the United States: Results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 65, 948–958.
18.
HartmanR. O.BetzN. E. (2007). The five-factor model and career self-efficacy: General and domain-specific relationships. Journal of Career Assessment, 15, 145–161.
19.
HerrE. L.CramerS. H.NilesS. G. (2003). Career guidance and counseling through the lifespan: Systematic approaches (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
20.
HoganR. (1996). Personality assessment. In BarrettR. S. (Ed.), Fair employment strategies in human resources management (pp. 144–152). Westport, CT: Quorum.
21.
HollandJ. L.GottfredsonG. D. (1994). Career attitudes and strategies inventory: An inventory for understanding adult careers. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
22.
HollandJ. L.GottfredsonG. D.BakerH. G. (1990). Validity of vocational aspirations and interest inventories: Extended, replicated, and reinterpreted. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 337–342.
23.
JudgeT. A.HellerD.MountM. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 530–541.
24.
JudgeT. A.HigginsC. A.ThoresenC. J.BarrickM. R. (1999). The Big Five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. Personnel Psychology, 52, 621–652.
25.
LezakM. D. (1987). Relationships between personality disorders, social disturbances, and physical disability following traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2(1), 57–69. doi:10.1097/00001199-198703000-0000910.1097/00001199-198703000-00009
26.
LinN. (2001). Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
27.
LounsburyJ. W.LovelandJ. M.SundstromE. D.GibsonL. W.DrostA. W.HamrickF. L. (2003). An investigation of personality traits in relation to career satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 287–307.
28.
McKee-RyanSongWangerKinicki. (2005). Psychological and physical well being during unemployment: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 53-76. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.5310.1037/0021-9010.90.1.53
NautaM. M. (2004). Self-efficacy as a mediator of the relationships between personality factors and career interests. Journal of Career Assessment, 12, 381–394.
O’SullivanD.StrauserD. (2010). Validation of the developmental work personality model and scale. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 54, 46–56.
33.
ReedM. B.BruchM. A.HaaseR. F. (2004). Five-factor model of personality and career exploration. Journal of Career Assessment, 12, 223–238.
34.
RobertsB. W.CaspiA.MoffittT. E. (2001). The kids are alright: Growth and stability in personality development from adolescence to adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 670–683.
35.
SalgadoJ. (2002). The Big Five personality dimensions and counterproductive behaviors. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 10, 117–125.
36.
StajkovicA. D.LuthansF. (1998). Self-efficacy and work-related performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 240–261.
37.
StrauserD. R. (1995). Applications of self-efficacy theory in rehabilitation counseling. Journal of Rehabilitation, 61, 7–11.
38.
StrauserD. R.O’SullivanD.WongA. W. K. (2010). The relationship between contextual work behaviors, self-efficacy, and work personality: An exploratory analysis. Disability and Rehabilitation, 32, 1999–2008.
39.
TettR. P.JacksonD. N.RothsteinM. (1991). Personality measures as predictors of job performance: A meta-analytic review. Personnel Psychology, 44, 703–742.
40.
Van den BergP. T.FeijJ. A. (2003). Complex relationships among personality traits, job characteristics, and work behaviors. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11, 326–339.
41.
WehmanP.RevellW. G.BrookeV. (2003). Competitive employment: Has it become the “first choice” yet?Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 14, 163–173. doi:10.1177/1044207303014003060110.1177/10442073030140030601
