Relationships between Five Factor Personality Variables,Workplace Accidents,and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Past research has examined the relationships between personality variables and workplace accidents; however, few studies have examined these relationships using the Five Factor Model of personality and trait-state relationships have not been examined in this context. The present study was undertaken to examine the relationships between personality characteristics based on the Five Factor Model, workplace accidents, and self-efficacy. To examine these relationships, personality, workplace accident, and self-efficacy data were collected from 202 undergraduate volunteers (134 women and 68 men) at a large midwestern urban university. The mean age of participants was 20.9 yr. (SD = 5.0). The results indicated that scores on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were significantly correlated with workplace accidents as were the self-efficacy variables. Neuroticism and Agreeableness were significantly related to self-efficacy.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arthur

Jr. Graziano

W. G.

(1996) The five-factor model, conscientiousness, and driving accident involvement. Journal of Personality, 64, 593–618.

Bandura

(1997) Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Cellar

D. F.

Miller

M. L.

Doverspike

D. D.

Klawsky

J. D.

(1996) Comparison of factor structures and criterion-related validity coefficients for two measures of personality based on the five factor model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 694–704.

Cellar

D. F.

Nelson

Z. C.

Yorke

C. M.

Bauer

(2001) The five-factor model and safety in the workplace: investigating the relationships between personality and accident involvement. In Stuhlmacher

A. F.

Cellar

D. F.

(Eds.), Workplace safety: individual differences in behavior. Binghamton, NY: Haworth. Pp. 43–52.

Costa

P. T.

Jr. McCrae

R. R.

(1985) The NEO Personality Inventory manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Costa

P. T.

Jr. McCrae

R. R.

(1992) The NEO-PI–R and NEO-FFI professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Digman

J. M.

(1990) Personality structure: emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417–440.

Goldberg

L. R.

(1992) The development of markers for the big-five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4, 26–42.

Goldberg

L. R.

(1993) The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48, 26–34.

10.

John

O. P.

(1990) The “big five” factor taxonomy: dimensions of personality in the natural language and in questionnaires. In Pervin

L. A.

(Ed.), Handbook of personality theory and research. New York: Guilford. Pp. 66–100.

11.

Peabody

(1987) Selecting representative trait adjectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 352–567.

12.

Peabody

Goldberg

L. R.

(1989) Some determinants of factor structures from personality-trait descriptors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 59–71.

13.

Schmitt

M. J.

Ryan

A. M.

(1993) The big five in personnel selection: factor structure in applicant and nonapplicant populations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 966–974.

14.

Stajkovic

A. D.

Luthans

(1998) Self-efficacy and work-related performance: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 240–261.

15.

Tupes

E. C.

Christal

R. E.

(1961) Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings. (US-AFASD Technical Report No. 61-97) Lackland Air Force Base, TX: U.S. Air Force.

16.

Tupes

E. C.

Christal

R. E.

(1992) Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings. Journal of Personality, 60, 225–251.

17.

Wood

R. S.

Locke

E. A.

(1987) The relation of self-efficacy and grade goals to academic performance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 1013–1024.