The predictive validity of the big five constructs on job performance : a meta-analysis

Abstract

Organisations want to employ people who will perform well and contribute to the bottom line. Research over a number of years has been dedicated to finding and validating predictors of job performance. Although General Mental Ability has been proven to be one of the best predictors of job performance across different jobs it is not the only predictor. The study of personality as a predictor of job performance has a long history and individual studies have yielded varying results, however, the use of cumulative research has demonstrated consistent results over various jobs, industries and countries. When a measure adds to the prediction of a criterion above what can be predicted by other sources of data the measure can be said to have incremental validity (Hunsley & Meyer, 2003). Studies prove that personality contributes to the incremental validity of predicting performance. In addition to cognitive ability, Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability significantly increase the incremental validity of predicting performance. This study investigated the predictive validity of the Big Five on Performance in a South African context by means of a meta-analysis. The study was based on quantitative research and made use of secondary data. Stratified purposive sampling was used to gather studies that met the criteria of the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, 34 studies were included in the analysis with a combined sample size of N=7100. The results corroborate international findings concerning the predictive validly of personality for performance. Although the number of studies available was small the relationships that were found are comparable to those reported in international research and demonstrated that each of the Big Five Factors correlated with the criterion to some extent. The criterion was categorised into performance categories, where the predictors of Technical Performance are Conscientiousness (.20) and Emotional Stability (.13). Conscientiousness (.25) and Extraversion (-.19) are the best predictors of Academic Performance. Organisational Citizenship Behaviour yielded positive relationships with all five factors with Openness to Experience (.36), Emotional Stability (.30), Agreeableness (.25) and Extraversion (.24) being the best predictors. Conscientiousness (.32) and Emotional Stability (.30) were shown to be valuable in predicting Avoiding Counterproductive Work Behaviour. Overall Performance is influenced most by Emotional Stability (.21), Extraversion (.16) and Openness (.16). This is the first meta-analysis exploring the predictive validity of the Big Five on Performance in South Africa.