PERCEPTIONS OF MANAGERS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND TEAM PERFORMANCE

In the field of occupational psychology, researchers have paid considerable attention to the study of personality traits in relation to job performance. This paper is part of a larger doctoral study and is considered as a pilot study to shed light on the subjective beliefs of managers about the relationship of personality traits to personal effectiveness and team performance and to describe the difference between the findings of this qualitative study and quantitative research studies already conducted. We used a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with a sample of 18 managers to seek answers to key questions. A review of the results showed that the personality trait of acceptance was the most frequently mentioned by managers as an important factor influencing personal effectiveness and team performance. The personality traits of openness, extraversion and conscientiousness are also believed to influence the constructs studied. Compared to quantitative research, managers place much more importance on agreeableness than extraversion and less on neuroticism. A pilot study showed that leaders believe that personality traits have an impact on both personal effectiveness and team performance.