Does Engagement Mediate Personality's Effect on Workplace Deviance? A Meta-Analytic Path Model

Abstract

Using a social exchange theory perspective, we meta-analytically examine the relationship between engagement and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). In addition, we meta-analytically examine the relationships between the Big Five and engagement. We then used structural equation modeling with a meta-analytically derived true-score correlation matrix to examine the extent to which engagement mediates the effects of the Big Five on CWBs. Our results indicate that engagement has a substantial dispositional component and that it mediates the effects of several of the Big Five on CWBs. A notable exception was Agreeableness, which maintained very strong, direct effects on CWBs in the presence of the Big Five and engagement. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.