The influence of HEXACO personality factors and job demands on counterproductive work behaviour

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : Job performance consists of three equally important broad performance domains: task performance, organisational citizenship behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2000). Thus, CWB is regarded as important for work effectiveness. Despite advances in clarifying what drives CWB, there is a lack of consensus in the literature on the extent to which specific personality traits are of potential use to predict CWB. Additionally, the role of certain job demands' moderating effects has also received little attention.The objective of this study was, firstly, to determine which antecedents play a primary role in determining CWB. Through an investigation of the relevant literature it was determined that, although job characteristics play an important role, personality remains the main primary antecedent involved in explaining the occurrence of CWB. Consequently, the investigation revolved around finding evidence on whether certain personality traits have an impact on the likelihood of an individual resorting to CWB, which can be exacerbated by certain demands at work. More specifically, the honesty-humility personality factor was considered as the possible trait that can explain the tendency to display deviant behaviours more accurately than previously believed traits. Lastly, the roles of specific job demands, including work overload and job insecurity, were investigated in the proposed model.Based on the review of the literature, hypotheses were formulated. A conceptual model depicting the relationships was also developed and tested with an ex post facto correlation design. The sample consisted of 180 professional individuals from various industries in South Africa to ensure that different occupations and levels of job demands were considered. Furthermore, this was done to ensure a wide spread investigation into the importance of certain personality factors that can be identified in relation to an important part of job performance such as CWB. A self-administered web-based survey was used for collecting the data. Participation was voluntary. The data collected was strictly confidential and anonymous. Several valid and reliable measurement instruments were used to measure the specific latent variables. A series of Partial Least Square (PLS) Analyses was performed to test the antecedent model of CWB.Of the ten hypotheses formulated in the study, four were found to be significant. The reason for the non-significant hypotheses could be attributed to a multitude of reasons outside the scope of the present study. Of the direct relationships with CWB that were explored, honesty-humility, conscientiousness, and work relationship overload yielded significant results, in accordance with previous research. Conscientiousness was furthermore shown to buffer the relationship between work relationship overload and CWB.This study has contributed positively to the existing body of knowledge on CWB by having looked in-depth into and providing valuable understanding of the relationship between the identified personality traits, job demands, and CWB. In addition, this study focused on the implications for the human resources profession in dealing with CWB in the workplace and suggested various interventions that HR professionals, industrial psychologists, and leaders could apply to eliminate and minimise CWB. The limitations and recommendations for future research were discussed and suggestions were also made. This research study only commenced once ethical clearance was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of Stellenbosch University (Appendix A).

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University