The case for hiring neurotic salespeople: A longitudinal growth modeling analysis

Abstract

While often characterized as a negative personality trait in the academic literature, we contend that neuroticism, under certain conditions, can spur employee success in the workplace. Utilizing longitudinal growth modeling (LGM) analysis with a sample of 114 direct-to-consumer salespeople, we show that neurotics demonstrate positive initial job performance, but that their performance attenuates over time. Additionally, we demonstrate positive synergies between neuroticism and the traditionally desirable traits of conscientiousness and extroversion on initial performance and performance growth. Specifically, we demonstrate that individuals who are conscientious and extroverted perform better when they are also neurotic. In so doing, we contribute to the literature by demonstrating the time varying effects of personality on job performance as well as the importance of evaluating the synergies between different personality traits.