Competitive personality and work outcomes: A meta-analysis and scale development

Yearick, Kathleen A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101750 Copy

Description

Title

Competitive personality and work outcomes: A meta-analysis and scale development

Author(s)

Yearick, Kathleen A.

Issue Date

2018-05-25

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Newman, Daniel A.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Newman, Daniel A.

Committee Member(s)

• Rounds, James
• Fraley, R. Chris
• Liu, Yihao
• Hulin, Charles L.

Department of Study

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

competitive personality measure, work outcomes, meta-analysis, confirmatory factor analysis

Abstract

The current paper makes five contributions to our understanding of competitive personality. First, I define competitive personality as a trait. Second, I review the historical origins of the trait, as it emerged in four adjacent subfields within psychology (i.e., health psychology, psychology of gender, cross-cultural psychology, and psychoanalysis). Third, I compile the most-used measures of competitive personality (most of which have not been labeled “competitive personality”), and empirically evaluate the convergent validity amongst these measures using confirmatory factor analysis. This effort also entails the development of the Competitive Personality Scale, a brief scale that reflects the essential content of the trait. Fourth, I establish the nomological validity of competitive personality vis-à-vis other personality traits, job attitudes, work behaviors, and demographics. Fifth, after demonstrating the variety of psychological literatures that have surreptitiously focused on competitive personality, I use meta-analytic methods to summarize evidence across these literatures on the relationships between competitive personality and other related constructs. Results support the contention that competitive personality is an important facet of human individual differences, that it has been studied under many different labels, and that it predicts critical outcomes in work organizations.

Graduation Semester

2018-08

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101750

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2018 Kathleen Yearick

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