Rethinking the association between extraversion and job satisfaction: The role of interpersonal job context

摘要

The person-job fit literature indicates that job satisfaction is contingent on the congruence between the individual and the job. We propose that interpersonal job context, the extent to which incumbents are exposed to social interaction on the job, magnifies the relationship between extraversion and job satisfaction. Using two large archival data sets (Ns = 5,849; 23,376) with job-level information from O* NET, we demonstrated (1) a main effect of job-level extraversion on interpersonal job context, and (2) a cross-level moderating effect of interpersonal job context on the individual-level extraversion-satisfaction relationship. These results suggest that extraverts are more likely to hold and be satisfied in jobs rich in social interaction. This research emphasizes the need for researchers and practitioners to consider personality-job context congruence.