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Discussion

We surveyed a sample of 496 currently employed busi-ness and engineering graduates to assess the relationship between proactive personality and objective and subjective career success. Our results show that, although the average effect size was modest, proactive personality was signifi-cantly and positively associated with the employees' current

salary, the number of promotions received, and their career satisfaction even after controlling for several career-related variables. In practical terms, a 1-point increase in the pro-active personality scale was associated with an $8,677 in-crease in yearly salary after controlling for all other vari-ables in the model. Additionally, results using the significant-other personality ratings for a subset of 408 respondents were virtually the same for salary and promo-tions and were significant but smaller in magnitude for career satisfaction. The consistency in results across data sources makes it unlikely that our results were due solely to common method bias.

These findings contribute to the understanding of both career success and the proactive personality construct. Our results extend models of career success by adding a dispo-sitional variable to the array of variables associated with career success. This is important because the interactional perspective suggests that dispositional variables should in-fluence career processes and outcomes, yet previous work within the organizational behavioral literature has largely ignored dispositional influences on career success. Our findings suggest that dispositional variables have the poten-tial to explain variance in career success in addition to that accounted for by other individual, organizational, and struc-tural variables. These results also contribute to the literature on proactive personality. Proactivity has previously been linked to leadership, sales performance, personal achieve-ments, and entrepreneurship. Our findings indicate that ob-jective and subjective career success are also associated with proactive personality.

The set of career success predictors, although not the primary focus of our study, represents a replication and extension of previous research on career success. Consistent with previous research, each set of variables (demographic, human capital, industry-area, organization, and motivation) produced a significant increase in the amount of explained variance for salary. Results for promotions also substan-tially replicated the previous findings, with the demographic and human capital variable sets adding significant amounts of explained variance and the industry-area and organiza-tional variable sets not explaining incremental variance in promotions. However, in the current study, the motivational variables did not add explanatory power in predicting num-ber of promotions as they did in the Judge et al. (1995) study. With respect to career satisfaction, our results also partly differ from those of Judge et al. In their study, each variable set except industry-area explained additional vari-ance in career satisfaction. In the current study, only the objective career outcomes, demographic, and motivational variable sets contributed incremental variance to the model; the industry-area, human capital, and organizational vari-able sets did not.

These differences from previous research may be due to the nature of the sample for each study. Judge et al. (1995

used a sample of high-level executives, whereas the current study was drawn from a population of undergraduate busi-ness, engineering, and MBA alumni currently employed in a range of occupations and organizational levels. A some-what different model may best explain career success for this more general population, especially with regard to career satisfaction.

When considering the generalizability of the findings, potential limitations should be noted. First, the use of mail surveys may be problematic in that we could not observe the actual generation of data, nor did we have control over who completed the significant-other survey. To minimize this problem, we provided detailed instructions throughout the survey and requested both the alumni and significant-other respondents to complete the surveys without consulting one another. A second limitation is that the predominantly White sample (96%) precludes generalization to other races. Future researchers should examine career success with a more racially diverse sample. A third limitation is the cross-sectional design of the study and the corresponding inability to draw strict causal conclusions. However, research indi-cates that personality traits are fairly stable over time (e.g., Staw et al., 1986), suggesting that the causal direction is from personality to career outcomes rather than the reverse. Nonetheless, future longitudinal research is needed both to provide further evidence for the stability of proactive per-sonality over time and to establish the causal direction between proactive personality and career outcomes. Finally, we relied on self-report data to assess the dependent vari-ables of this study. The limitations of self-report data are well-known (Podsakoff & Organ, 1986), and future re-searchers should attempt to include other sources of data for the dependent variables of interest.

The results of our study suggest several additional opportu-nities for future research. For example, it would be fruitful to examine the behaviors that mediate the relationship between proactive personality and career success. Possible mediating behaviors may include the effective use of influence tactics, building social networks, active career planning, and initiating new projects. Researchers should also examine potential dif-ferences in the operation of proactive personality in different occupations. Some occupations may not allow one much lat-itude to be proactive, regardless of one's disposition, or may not provide the same kinds of rewards for proactive behavior. Finally, it would be worthwhile for future researchers to in-clude in their models other personality variables that may be correlated with proactive personality, such as the Big Five traits (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1992), and other individual-differences variables, such as interests and general abilities. As a relatively narrow and focused trait, proactive personality may serve to mediate the effects of these more molar individual differences on career success.

In conclusion, the results of this study provide initial evi-dence that proactive personality contributes to career success.

Even after controlling for an extensive set of variables related to career success, proactive personality had a significant effect on career satisfaction, salary attainment, and the number of promotions over one's career. This finding is consistent with an interactionist perspective on careers (Bell & Staw, 1989) and adds to the growing body of evidence on the role of personality in organizational settings.

References

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Bell, N. E., & Staw, B. M. (1989). People as sculptors versus sculpture: The role of personality and personal control in orga-nizations. In M. B. Arthur, D. T. Hall, & B. S. Lawrence (Eds.),

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Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. (1992). NEO-P1-R and NEO-FF1 professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Costa, P. T., Jr., McCrae, R., & Zonderman, A. B. (1987). Envi-ronmental and dispositional influences on well-being:Longitu-dinal followup of an American national sample. BritishJournal of Psychology, 78, 299-306.

Grant, J. M. (1995). The Proactive Personality Scale and objective job performance among real estate agents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 532-537.

Grant, J. M. (1996). The Proactive Personality Scale as a predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Small Business Man-agement, 34(3), 42-49.

Grant, J. M., & Bateman, T. S. (in press). Charasmatic leadership viewed from above: The impact of proactive personality. Jour-nal of Organizational Behavior.

Dawis, R. V., & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

DMU Timestamp: March 29, 2019 18:11





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