Differences in Personality Traits across Ethnic Groups within New Zealand and across an International Sample

Research indicates that there are differences in personality traits between ethnic groups and between countries. This research has not, however, included a New Zealand sample. The current study examined personality differences between respondents from three New Zealand ethnic groups (546 New Zealand Europeans, 102 Maori and 78 Pacific Islanders), and between respondents from three countries (726 New Zealanders, 268 Australians and 1,128 South Africans). Analyses revealed some significant group differences at both the global and facet personality trait level. At the global trait level, the largest differences were between countries on the Extraversion, Neuroticism and Agreeableness traits. Small, but significant differences were detected between ethnic and country groups for the personality traits that are most predictive of job performance, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. At the facet trait level, large differences were found on the Suspiciousness trait. We conclude by discussing the potential implications of these findings for employment selection. ********** Cognitive ability assessments are commonly used in employment selection to predict job performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). More recently, personality assessments have also become more widely used as a personnel assessment tool by New Zealand organisations and consulting firms (Taylor, Keelty & McDonnell, 2002). Furthermore, in a survey of personnel selection methods across 18 countries, Ryan, McFarland, Baron and Page (1999) identified New Zealand organisations as being among the most frequent users of personality assessments. The increased application of personality assessments may reflect the growing empirical evidence and acceptance of the five-factor model of personality and its ability to predict job performance. Additionally, their popularity and acceptance may also be in part due to growing evidence that personality assessments add incremental validity over and above cognitive ability assessments (Driskell, Hogan, Salas & Hoskin, 1994; McHenry & Hough, 1990; Rosse, Miller & Barnes, 1991). However, as a result of their relatively new acceptance, group differences in personality have not been examined to the same extent as group differences in cognitive ability. Because selection professionals need to know the levels of impact associated with the use of particular selection techniques it is important to assess group differences, such as ethnicity, associated with personality assessments. The existence of five personality factors has repeatedly emerged in studies using different rating instruments (e.g. Goldberg, 1990; McAdams, 1992; McCrae & Costa, 1987; Noller, Law & Comrey, 1987), ratings from different sources (e.g. Borgatta, 1964; Goldberg, 1981; McCrae & Costa, 1989), different samples (e.g. Barrick & Mount, 1991; Tett, Jackson & Rothstein, 1991), and across different theoretical frameworks (e.g. McCrae & Costa, 1987; Noller et al., 1987). According to Goldberg and Saucier (1995), the five-factor model comprised of five global personality traits, commonly referred to as the Big Five, now enjoys wide acceptance as the most comprehensive and parsimonious model of the structure of personality. The Big Five traits are most commonly referred to as: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (cf. Barrick & Mount, 1991). The development of the five-factor model of personality was based on the English lexicon and Western culture, which raises concern regarding its cross-cultural generalisability. Juni (1996) noted that if the environment influences personality, the five-factor personality structure is not likely to be found in different cultures and different languages. It is important that personality assessments are culturally generalisable to enable cross-cultural comparisons, and also to ensure their fairness in the multicultural societies now found in New Zealand and the rest of the world. …