A Latent State‐Trait analysis of global self‐esteem: A reconsideration of its state‐like component in an organizational setting

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, we addressed the relevance of the state‐trait variance decomposition of global self‐esteem (GSE) in organizational research. We used a longitudinal sample of 393 military cadets followed for 2 years (nT2 = 376) and adopted Latent Curve—Latent State‐Trait models for separating stable and transient factors in GSE and in three work‐related variables (e.g., work engagement, affective commitment, in‐role/extra‐role performance). Although literature often considered GSE a trait‐like variable, our results showed that it has a significant state variance that positively covaried with the state components of all three work‐related variables included in our study. Thus, we suggest rejecting the rigid separation between “state‐constructs” and “trait‐constructs”, and recommend a paradigm that focuses on the trait and state components of each psychological construct.