Does Personality Predict Occupational Gravitation?

Abstract

The current dissertation investigated the role of personality in occupational gravitation. Two directions of occupational gravitation were proposed and tested— lateral and vertical gravitation. Results revealed that individuals found improved person-occupation personality fit over time as measured by the indices of Openness, Conscientiousness, Openness-Conscientiousness, and Big Five fit. Effect sizes ranged from .12 SD to .38 SD. Findings also indicated that Extraversion and Agreeableness fit worsened over time, and Emotional Stability fit remained constant. Analyses further showed that improved fit over time was driven by vertical and not lateral gravitation. Extraversion (+), Openness (-), Agreeableness (-), and Conscientiousness (+) predicted upward job zone movement, and this job zone movement resulted in improved fit. That is, job zone mediated the relationship between age and person-occupation personality fit.