Personality and workplace impression management: correlates and implications.

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the role of personality in understanding impression management (IM) behaviors. We hypothesized that the HEXACO model of personality could provide an intricate understanding of the dispositional bases of IM behaviors, as well as coworkers' ability to accurately perceive the IM of those they work with. Using 2 samples (N = 176 and N = 366), we found that the common core underlying 5 IM behaviors possesses a strong negative relationship with the personality trait of Honesty-Humility, such that individuals low in this trait were more likely to report using all IM behaviors. Furthermore, we found that the unique variance associated with specific IM behaviors can be understood using other traits included in the HEXACO personality model, including Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. In a subset of the data (N = 100), we examined self-coworker convergence in IM and personality. We found that while coworkers are adequate at judging traditional personality traits, the self-coworker convergence for all 5 IM behaviors, as well as the personality trait of Honesty-Humility, were not significant. This adds to a growing body of evidence that coworkers may not be good at accurately perceiving IM or Honesty-Humility in the workplace.