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Personality trait inferences about organizations and organizational attraction: An organizational-level analysis based on a multi-cultural sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Marc H Anderson ,
Jarrod Haar  and
Jenny Gibb
Marc H Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Iowa State University, Ames IA, USA
Jarrod Haar
Affiliation:
Department of Strategy & Human Resource Management, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Jenny Gibb
Affiliation:
Department of Strategy & Human Resource Management, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
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Abstract

Research has shown that people make inferences about the personality traits organizations possess, and that these inferences affect their perceptions of organizational attraction. The nature of the relationship between personality trait inferences and organizational attraction is unclear, however, as the results of prior studies have been somewhat inconsistent, have had several distinct limitations, and have only been conducted using US samples. We present new evidence regarding the nature of this relationship, with data on a much larger number of firms, using a multi-cultural sample. Our exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses find a seven-factor structure of personality trait inferences that includes the five factors identified by previous researchers, suggesting that while the five factors have some generalizability outside the US, there may also be important differences. Our results also provide additional support that personality trait inferences are related to perceptions of organizational attraction.

Keywords

personality trait inferences about organizationsorganization personality perceptionsorganizational attractionorganizational attractivenessorganizational imageorganizational reputation

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 140 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2010

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