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The big five in the USA and Japan

Chet Robie (Wilfrid Laurier University, School of Business and Economics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Douglas J. Brown (University of Waterloo, Department of Psychology, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Paul R. Bly (Personnel Decisions International, Research Department, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)

Journal of Management Development

ISSN: 0262-1711

Article publication date: 1 September 2005

7645

Abstract

Purpose

To examine whether the “big five” personality factors operate similarly from a psychometric perspective across dissimilar cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

Managers from the USA and Japan were administered a work‐oriented measure of the big five and overall assessment ratings were collected. Independent groups t‐tests were used to examine mean differences in personality scores across samples. Factor analysis was used to examine the structure of the big five across samples. Relative importance analyses were used to examine whether assessors across samples differentially weighted the big five in arriving at overall assessment ratings.

Findings

Big five personality dimension scores were significantly higher in the US sample compared to the Japanese sample. Across both samples, relative importance analyses revealed extraversion to be the most important correlate of predicted job performance, whereas conscientiousness was the least important correlate of predicted job performance.

Research limitations/implications

Three limitations existed: relatively small sample size for the Japanese sample (n=410) compared to the US sample (n=3,458); scarcity of Japanese demographic information makes interpretation of results due to culture less certain; and follow‐up data on actual hiring decisions would enable additional interpretations of the data to be made.

Practical implications

Results suggest that: the Five Factor Model of personality is rather robust across cultures, samples, and types of instruments, possible response biases across cultures should be taken into account when developing norms and setting cutoffs.

Originality/value

Although a consistent response bias is evidenced across the USA and Japan, the Five Factor Model of personality remains robust and what makes for an effective manager appears to be consistent across cultures.

Keywords

Citation

Robie, C., Brown, D.J. and Bly, P.R. (2005), "The big five in the USA and Japan", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 720-736. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710510613744

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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