Subjective well-being and job satisfaction among self-employed and regular employees: does personality matter differently?. (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Berglund, Victor; Johansson Sevä, Ingemar; Strandh, Mattias
• Is Part Of: Journal of small business and entrepreneurship. Volume 28:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 55
• Page End: 73
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: subjective well-being -- job satisfaction -- personality traits -- self-employment -- Sweden; bien-être subjectif -- satisfaction au travail -- traits de personnalité -- auto-emploi -- Suède; Small business -- Periodicals; Small business -- Canada -- Periodicals; Entrepreneurship -- Periodicals; Petites et moyennes entreprises -- Périodiques; Petites et moyennes entreprises -- Canada -- Périodiques; Entrepreneurs (Économie politique) -- Périodiques; 658.022
• DOI: 10.1080/08276331.2015.1115699
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0827-6331

Abstract

Abstract: Little is known about the importance of personality traits for subjective well-being (SWB) and job satisfaction among self-employed. The aim of this article is to investigate if the Big-Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience) have different relationships with SWB and job satisfaction among self-employed compared with regular employees. Data come from a Swedish survey comprising representative samples of self-employed ( n = 2483) and regular employees ( n = 2642). Personality traits are measured using a 10-item personality measure. Our findings show that there are only small differences, between self-employed and regular employees, in the associations between personality traits and SWB. For job satisfaction, on the other hand, we find much stronger relationships for self-employed than the regularly employed. For self-employed, every personality trait except 'openness to experience' have a significant positive relationship with job satisfaction. In comparison, only 'extraversion' and 'emotional stability' are significantly correlated to job satisfaction among regular employees. The relationship between 'extraversion' and job satisfaction was furthermore substantially weaker among regular employees. Therefore, being self-employed seems to be particularly beneficial for individuals scoring high on 'extraversion, ' 'agreeableness, ' and 'conscientiousness.'