How Proactive Personality Impacts Higher Job Performance & Well-Being

COVID-19 has created a whole new set of work-related stress and challenges. However, recent research in the Journal of Applied Psychology explored what types of personalities do well in the midst of challenging circumstances.

Data was collected from 208 nurses and 200 doctors in Wuhan, China during the pandemic. Respondents were surveyed at three points in time—once in April 2020, at the two-week mark, and at the three-week mark.

The results revealed that people with proactive personality—those who actively scan and create opportunities—were more likely to demonstrate initiative and persevere. They were more likely to draw upon strengths and their best qualities to create opportunities for themselves (i.e., “strengths use”). Individuals with higher proactive personality were more likely to view stressful and ambiguous situations (such as a pandemic) as on opportunity to adapt and utilize their personal strengths. “Strengths use” was positive related to higher job performance and lower withdrawal from work. It was also related to higher resilience and thriving.

The researchers also examined contextual factors that could impact the relationship between proactive personality and the aforementioned outcomes. The researchers found that when the frontline workers that were higher in proactive personality perceived that the disruption to their daily routine was higher, the relationship between proactive personality and strengths use was stronger. However, this was only the case when the employees perceived higher organizational support.

Yi-Feng Chen, N., Crant, J. M., Wang, N., Kou, Y., Qin, Y., Yu, J., & Sun, R. (2021). When there is a will there is a way: The role of proactive personality in combating COVID-19. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publica