Psychology Archipelago

What Job Fits Your Personality?

What should I do with my life? It's the eternal question repeated across generations for most entering adulthood. It begs the question, what is the relationship between job satisfaction and personality? 

Looking at this from a purely logical perspective, personality should have a major effect on job satisfaction from two facets. First, personality also determines, in part, affinity towards certain interests. Interest in the job seems to be self-evidently important for job satisfaction. Second, personality determines how one works and interacts with others at a particular job. 

For interest and job satisfaction, it turns out the traditional perspective in the literature was that interest is “not as strong of a relation as people expect” as Kevin Hoff, assistant professor of industrial-organizational psychology in the Journal of Vocational Behavior, stated in a press release. It seems that factors such as colleagues, supervisors, pay, and work-life balance may have a larger factor in job satisfaction. 

However, a new paper from December 2020 found that previous meta-analyses were limited by multiple critical issues, “including low statistical power and inconsistent inclusion criteria.” The new meta-analysis found significant positive correlation between interest and job satisfaction. One major caveat was that there was an even greater correlation between interest and performance outcomes. While there is no doubt that other factors play a role, interest still plays a major role in job satisfaction. 

So what about personality determines job satisfaction? To answer this we first need to have a tool to quantify personality. While the Myers–Briggs personality test is extremely popular, and used on sites like careerassesmentsite.com to give career advice, it is known that this personality test is not scientifically rigorous. Instead, psychologists often use the Big Five model, otherwise known as OCEAN. OCEAN consists of 5 aspects: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Simplified, openness measures one’s willingness to try new experiences and think outside the box. Conscientiousness measures the tendency to use self-control and be organized. Extroversion measures the degree to which one gets energy from interaction with others. Extroverts often feel energized by social interaction. In contrast, introverts often feel drained from interaction with others. Unlike popular belief, it is not a measure of “shyness,” simply of how social interaction affects energy. Agreeableness measures, well, agreeability: politeness, compassion, trust, humility, etc. Finally, neuroticism measures the tendency towards negative emotions. More neurotic individuals have less emotional stability and suffer from higher rates of anxiety and depression.  
A study from 2012 found the correlation between the Big Five personality traits and job satisfaction. They found that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness had a significant positive relationship with job satisfaction. On the other hand, neuroticism had a negative relationship with job satisfaction. There have also been research that the jobs themselves had an affect on personality. Longitudinal analysis (observation of the same subjects over a period of time) found that “higher income at baseline predicted decreases in Neuroticism.”

It’s clear now that personality has a huge affect on job satisfaction. But we can’t exactly change our personalities, at least not easily. So what is the research on which personalities are suited to specific jobs? 

While there have been not much research on personality and job satisfaction in particular, there is a lot of research on personality and job performance. Research shows that there are particular personality traits that are advantageous in different jobs. There seems to be an optimal balance for any job, however, as it seems to be “disadvantageous to have trait levels higher than the levels a job demands (even if these traits are generally viewed as favorable).” 

While it is hard to categorize jobs neatly, at a very basic level, people who score highly in openness are more suited towards entrepreneurial and other creative endeavors. This is because these jobs require an openness to new ideas, without being bogged down in traditional ideals.  A new business needs to create something that is better (often a lot better) than existing competition, and tradition does not cut it in these situations. 
On the other hand, people who score highly in consciouniousness and lower in agreeableness are suited more towards managerial and administrative work. This is because these jobs require consistent work and organization. Being lower in agreeableness makes sure that those in managerial work are not easily manipulated and can make sure that those below them continue to work diligently.

Despite all of this, we should not be too afraid of picking the “wrong job.” As research has shown, despite personality being a large component of job satisfaction, other factors such as workplace culture are also extremely important. Many people know the feeling of hating something that they used to enjoy, simply because of the environment. Furthermore, personality itself can change over time from the demands of the job. While choosing the correct career path may feel like a daunting task, in the end, it is up to the individual to make the most of any career that they may choose.