The success of your career path is determined by a range of factors. This could include your level of education, job experience, upbringing, home life, and ambition. However, what many individuals fail to consider is the impact of personality in the workplace.
Personality drives our core behavior in both our personal and professional life. More specifically, according to psychological research, dominant personality traits will determine the job you choose, the way you interact with co-workers, and how you handle work-related situations.
In other words, your personality is a crucial factor that has major implications on your job performance and overall career success. Considering this, you want to take the time to understand yourself and understand how your personality affects your behavior in the workplace.
Learning more about your personality and career will not only show you what your personal strengths are, but you can improve your weak points and actually increase your performance at work. To help you, we’ll talk more about personality types in the workplace and the specific ways your personality can hurt or further your career.
What are the Different Personality Traits Found in The Workplace and How Will They Affect Your Work Behavior?
When talking about workplace personality types, behaviorists and other professionals usually refer to the big five personality traits. According to this psychological model, personality is based on five different dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Each individual possesses all of these traits to some degree, but depending on your specific personality, you might score higher or lower on certain personality traits. The combination of these traits and your score on each trait is what we would define as personality.
For instance, someone can score high in agreeableness but be low on extroversion. Other people might score low on conscientiousness and high on neuroticism. Each person has their own unique set of traits.
But, what are the implications of each trait? We’ll dive into the description of each personality trait and define what these dimensions reveal about you and your behavior at work.
Openness
People that score high on openness are highly creative and like to think outside the box. These individuals love exploring new ideas and experiences. In the workplace, a more open individual takes bigger risks and might fit well with leadership positions. They also take on more challenges at work and aren’t afraid to get out of their comfort zone.
On the other hand, someone that scores low on openness has the opposite personality. They dislike change, enjoy keeping a routine and don’t present many novel ideas at work. Low openness isn’t necessarily bad. But people with this personality trait tend to be more traditional, logical, and like to follow the rules.
Conscientiousness
Conscientious people tend to be thoughtful, goal-oriented, and great at planning. Someone that is high in this personality trait excels in the workplace. They are able to optimize their work performance because they are mindful of small details and pay close attention to themselves and the people around them. As a result, conscientious workers are able to meet deadlines and control their impulses. They don’t get side-tracked easily.
Workers with low conscientiousness will have a harder time performing well at work. These individuals don’t like structure, have a hard time following schedules, procrastinate, and aren’t good at spotting details. This can mean that they don’t finish work tasks on time. They might even fail to finish their work.
Extroversion
Most of us know what extroversion is. But to sum it up quickly, workers who score high on this personality trait are more social, have great communication skills, and are energized by meeting with people. In the workplace, this could mean that extroverts lead work meetings, have more connections, and are able to communicate their needs. Work performance tends to be high with extroverts, as well.
People that are low on extraversion, also known as introverts, have a harder time with social interactions. They like to work alone, get drained from work meetings, and don’t like to be in the spotlight. Introverts can still be great workers, but they tend to not get promoted as much as extroverts.
Agreeableness
Scoring high on agreeableness is ideal for any work environment. People that are high on this personality trait get along with others. They are empathic and able to bring people together even when there is workplace conflict. Agreeable people want to help others and create a good workplace.
For people that are less agreeable, this can lead to tension in the workplace. Co-workers that are less agreeable tend to care less about others and might manipulate the people around them to get what they want. Overall, individuals with this personality trait will have a much harder time getting along with people at work and at home.
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is the final personality trait we’ll talk about. Scoring high on this big five trait tends to be negative for your work performance and behavior. People who are neurotic tend to be highly moody, irritable, and prone to stress. They lash out at others and have a harder time dealing with difficult work situations.
If there is one trait that workers should consider modifying, it should be neuroticism. You want to score low on this personality trait. Low neuroticism means you are emotionally stable, can relax, and don’t worry too much.
At work, it’s important to be able to find your center to deal with difficult tasks. You don’t have to be calm all the time, but you won't know how to deal with stress and negative emotions in a healthy way.
How Exactly Does Personality Type Affect Your Job Performance?
Scoring high on specific big five traits can lead to better or worse job performance. And as we have mentioned before your personality will determine your success at work.
We’ll talk a little more about which personality type is more successful and which personality type might lead you to less success. This way you can try and make some changes to your work behaviors.
What Personality Type is the Most Successful?
Again, certain personality types do lead to more career success. In fact, behavioral scientists have discovered that people who score high on extraversion tend to have the most success in the workplace and in their careers over time. While this isn’t true for every individual, on average extroverts tend to report the highest levels of job satisfaction. They are happier with their salaries, get more promotions, and have better success at work overall.
Scoring high on agreeableness also predicted workplace success. But, those who are high in agreeableness don’t have as much job satisfaction as extroverts. They do work more efficiently and tend to get along well with others. This leads them to promotions and leadership positions. All in all, agreeable people know how to interact and communicate with people which can result in successful work outcomes.
What Personality Type is Least Successful?
Personality and career success go hand in hand, but what types of personality types might lead to less success at work? While agreeableness and extraversion are good work personalities, if you are high on neuroticism this can lead to poor work outcomes.
People that are more neurotic tend to be moody, anxious, and easily frustrated. And, as you can imagine, having these types of traits is not great for your job performance or success. When you get easily stressed out and anxious it can make it a lot harder to find satisfaction in your work.
Those who score high on neuroticism just don’t work well with people and can end up creating workplace conflicts. Scoring low on agreeableness can further strain work relationships, and lead to a lack of promotion. This is because people low in agreeableness tend to not care about others and their feelings as much.
Can Personality Traits Be Changed?
For the most part, our personality type stays stable throughout our lives. Still, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make a change if you want to find more success at work and in your personal life. Personality changes can be highly positive for your career.
And, if you make efforts to understand your current personality traits, you can work on your weaknesses and actually change your behavior and personality over time. This, along with other steps, could lead to promotions, a higher salary, and greater satisfaction at work in the future.
Current research suggests that personality changes do boost your career in a significant way. It can even help you land your dream job in another field. It takes hard work to become more emotionally stable. But if you put in the time to become a little more extroverted, conscientious, and agreeable you could see some amazing results in the workplace.
What Kinds of Jobs Require Certain Personalities or Aptitudes?
Which personality types are better suited to certain jobs and job roles? We’ll go over this briefly so you can see how personality and job decisions might interact and what career path could bring you the most success.
You can choose any job you want, but there could be specific careers that better align with your personality traits. We will discuss some of the options you can try if you are thinking about a career change.
Jobs That Align With Openness
People with high openness will enjoy jobs that offer them adventure and excitement. You will do best when you are meeting new people and experiencing new things. An office job might not be the best fit for people with this personality trait. Instead, consider these career options:
- Tour Guide
- Airplane Pilot
- Position in The Military
- Travel Writer
- Lawyer
- Entrepreneur
Jobs That Align With Conscientiousness
If you’re highly conscientious you are great with details and thrive in an ordered environment. We recommend looking into these jobs:
- Accountant
- Marketing Consultant
- Doctor/Surgeon
- Sales Manager
- Politician
Jobs That Align With Extroversion
For extroverts, there are tons of jobs that will align with this personality trait. Since you get energized by being around people and communicating consider these jobs:
- Actor/Entertainer
- Event Planner
- Personal Trainer
- Recruiter
Jobs That Align With Agreeableness
People that are high in agreeableness are able to get along with people and are highly empathic. There is a range of careers that will fit this personality. Nursing is one field, as agreeableness is one of the qualities that make a good nurse. Also look at other possible career paths like:
- Elementary School Teacher
- Judge
- Counselor
- Religious Leader
- Speech Therapist
Jobs That Align With Low Neuroticism
People that score high on neuroticism will have a hard time finding a job that suits them. That’s why we’ll talk about a few options that fit with low neuroticism. People that are good under pressure, and know how to stay calm should look into these careers:
- Social Worker
- Psychiatrist
- Diplomat
- Police Office
- Fire Fighter
How Can You Determine Your Personality Type?
If you plan on learning more about your personality type, you’ll need help determining what big five traits you score high and low on. To do this, start by taking a personality test online. You can take an official Beck Five Inventory test here.
Also, consider doing some self-reflection in your free time. Taking an online test is helpful, but to uncover your behaviors and habits at work, we recommend recording your specific behaviors. Keep a notebook on your and write down how you perform during meetings, a typical work day, and other work events to get more insight into yourself.
Finally, you can also ask your friends, family, or co-workers for feedback about your personality. We don’t always catch everything we do at work or at home. It can be helpful to hear about how other people perceive you and your personality. This way you can make changes.
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