A Study on Executives’ Self–Other Rater Agreement on HEXACO Personality and OCB

Abstract

We tested the level of agreement between the self and other ratings for honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience (HEXACO-PI [R]) in a sample of 100 managerial executives from India, along with their co-employees. It is our endeavour to understand whether the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and personality, measured through HEXACO, varies across the personality-rating source. Using a survey method comprising a 21-item questionnaire, we noted that all the six HEXACO dimensions had high and significant self–other agreement. Interestingly, the highest correlation was observed for conscientiousness, while the lowest correlation was for openness to experience. However, the relationship between HEXACO and OCB differed across different rating sources. Further, HEXACO, as rated by co-workers, did seem to have a better explanatory power than self-rated HEXACO, in predicting OCB. Importantly, the observed relationships between self and co-worker-related personality and OCB have been explained through the socio-analytic theory and the trait visibility theory. Based on our analysis, we assume that the psychometric properties of the HEXACO scale can be generalized in the Indian context. However, for work-related behaviour, personality rating by a co-worker is a better predictor than global self-rating. JEL CODE: M