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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Personality Characteristics of Business Majors as
Defined by the Big Five and Narrow Personality
Traits
John W. Lounsbury , Ryan M. Smith , Jacob J. Levy , Frederick T. Leong & Lucy
W. Gibson
To cite this article: John W. Lounsbury , Ryan M. Smith , Jacob J. Levy , Frederick T. Leong &
Lucy W. Gibson (2009) Personality Characteristics of Business Majors as Defined by the Big Five
and Narrow Personality Traits, Journal of Education for Business, 84:4, 200-205, DOI: 10.3200/
JOEB.84.4.200-205
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.84.4.200-205

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 22:52

Personality฀Characteristics฀of฀Business฀
Majors฀as฀Defined฀by฀the฀Big฀Five฀and฀
Narrow฀Personality฀Traits
JOHN฀W.฀LOUNSBURY฀
UNIVERSITY฀OF฀TENNESSEE,฀KNOXVILLE

Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:52 11 January 2016

RYAN฀M.฀SMITH฀
DUKE฀UNIVERSITY฀

DURHAM,฀NORTH฀CAROLINA
JACOB฀J.฀LEVY฀
UNIVERSITY฀OF฀TENNESSEE,฀KNOXVILLE

ABSTRACT.
ABSTRACT. Using฀data฀from฀347฀
undergraduate฀business฀majors฀and฀2,252฀
nonbusiness฀majors฀at฀a฀large฀Southeastern฀university,฀the฀authors฀drew฀on฀J.฀L.฀
Holland’s฀(1985)฀vocational฀theory฀and฀
investigated฀whether฀the฀2฀groups฀differed฀
on฀the฀Big฀Five฀model฀of฀personality฀(B.฀
De฀Raad,฀2000;฀agreeableness,฀conscientiousness,฀฀฀emotional฀stability,฀extraversion,฀openness)฀and฀4฀narrow฀personality฀
traits.฀For฀business฀majors,฀the฀authors฀also฀
examined฀the฀relations฀between฀personality฀
traits฀and฀life฀satisfaction.฀Business฀majors฀
scored฀higher฀for฀conscientiousness,฀emotional฀stability,฀extraversion,฀assertiveness,฀
and฀tough-mindedness,฀but฀they฀scored฀
lower฀on฀agreeableness฀and฀openness.฀All฀
of฀the฀traits฀except฀for฀agreeableness฀and฀
tough-mindedness฀correlated฀significantly฀

and฀positively฀with฀life฀satisfaction.฀The฀
authors฀discuss฀results฀in฀terms฀of฀similar฀
relations฀in฀business฀occupations฀and฀support฀of฀vocational฀theory.฀
Keywords:฀Big฀Five฀model,฀business฀
majors,฀Holland’s฀theory,฀life฀satisfaction,฀
narrow฀personality฀traits
Copyright฀©฀2009฀Heldref฀Publications

200฀

Journal฀of฀Education฀for฀Business

FREDERICK฀T.฀LEONG฀
MICHIGAN฀STATE฀UNIVERSITY฀
EAST฀LANSING
LUCY฀W.฀GIBSON฀
RESOURCE฀ASSOCIATES,฀INC.฀
KNOXVILLE,฀TENNESSEE

I

n฀ the฀ present฀ study,฀ we฀ compared฀
the฀ Big฀ Five฀ model฀ of฀ personality฀ (agreeableness,฀ conscientiousness,฀
emotional฀stability,฀extraversion,฀openness;฀De฀Raad,฀2000)฀and฀narrow฀personality฀ traits฀ of฀ business฀ majors฀ with฀
other฀ students.฀ In฀ recent฀ years,฀ there฀
has฀been฀a฀growing฀body฀of฀research฀on฀
personality฀ traits฀ that฀ distinguish฀ students฀in฀business฀majors฀from฀students฀
in฀other฀majors,฀฀and฀a฀body฀of฀research฀
differentiating฀business฀specialty฀areas.฀
Much฀ of฀ this฀ research฀ is฀ interpretable฀
using฀Holland’s฀(1985,฀1996)฀vocational฀ theory.฀ Holland’s฀ central฀ thesis฀ was฀
that฀ people฀ flourish฀ in฀ environments฀
where฀there฀is฀a฀good฀fit฀between฀their฀
personality฀ and฀ the฀ environment฀ in฀
which฀they฀function.฀Whereas฀good฀fit฀
can฀lead฀to฀satisfaction,฀longevity,฀and฀
higher฀ levels฀ of฀ performance,฀ lack฀ of฀
fit฀leads฀to฀dissatisfaction,฀withdrawal,฀
instability,฀ and฀ lowered฀ performance฀
(Holland,฀1985).฀

When฀ Holland’s฀ vocational฀ theory฀ is฀
applied฀ to฀ academic฀ majors฀ by฀ using฀
personality฀traits,฀three฀inherent฀validity฀
assumptions฀should฀be฀met:฀
฀ 1.฀ There฀should฀be฀a฀logical฀relation฀
between฀ the฀ personality฀ trait฀ and฀ the฀
major.฀For฀example,฀business฀is฀regarded฀as฀a฀major฀suitable฀for฀students฀with฀
high฀scores฀on฀the฀enterprising฀construct฀
(Rosen,฀ Holmberg,฀ &฀ Holland,฀ 1997)฀
because฀ it฀ reflects฀ a฀ “preference฀ for฀
activities฀that฀entail฀the฀manipulation฀of฀

others฀ to฀ attain฀ organizational฀ goals฀ or฀
economic฀gain”฀(Holland,฀1973,฀p.฀16).
฀ 2.฀ There฀ are฀ differences฀ between฀
majors฀regarding฀personality฀traits,฀usually฀ in฀ a฀ manner฀ consistent฀ with฀ the฀
meaning฀of฀the฀construct.฀
฀ 3.฀ In฀ any฀ particular฀ major,฀ there฀ are฀
individual฀differences฀between฀students฀
regarding฀ personality฀ traits฀ and฀ a฀ positive฀relation฀between฀traits฀and฀satisfaction฀of฀the฀individual฀in฀the฀major.฀

In฀ view฀ of฀ Holland’s฀ (1985)฀ continuity฀
principle฀ and฀ life-span฀ developmental฀
research฀ on฀ the฀ consistency฀ of฀ personality฀ relations฀ over฀ time฀ (e.g.,฀ Seifert,฀
Hoffnung,฀ &฀ Hoffnung,฀ 2000),฀ we฀
would฀ also฀ expect฀ personality฀ traits฀ to฀
meet฀these฀three฀assumptions฀to฀demonstrate฀similar฀consistencies฀in฀the฀occupational฀arena.
Noel,฀ Michael,฀ and฀ Levas฀ (2003)฀
found฀ that฀ business฀ majors฀ “demonstrate฀personality฀traits฀that฀follow฀conventional฀ stereotypes฀ of฀ their฀ business฀
vocations”฀ (p.฀ 156).฀ Accounting,฀ management฀ information,฀ and฀ marketing฀
majors฀ differ฀ on฀ outgoingness,฀ abstract฀
thinking,฀ emotional฀ stability,฀ enthusiasm,฀venturesomeness,฀imaginativeness,฀
tension,฀ and฀ self-monitoring฀ behavior.฀
Filbeck฀and฀Smith฀(1996)฀observed฀that฀
students฀majoring฀in฀finance฀have฀significantly฀higher฀Myers-Briggs฀Type฀Indicator฀ (MBTI)฀ scores฀ on฀ extraversion,฀
sensing,฀thinking,฀and฀judging.฀Nourayi฀
and฀Cherry฀(1993)฀also฀used฀the฀MBTI฀

Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:52 11 January 2016

and฀ found฀ that฀ students฀ majoring฀ in฀

accounting฀were฀overwhelmingly฀(94%)฀
categorized฀as฀judgers.
Research฀ in฀ this฀ area฀ has฀ not฀ kept฀
pace฀ with฀ a฀ major฀ development฀ in฀ normal฀ personality฀ research฀ and฀ theorizing.฀ A฀ nearly฀ universal฀ consensus฀ has฀
emerged฀that฀all฀normal฀personality฀traits฀
can฀be฀parsimoniously฀described฀by฀five฀
broad฀ traits,฀ as฀ termed฀ by฀ the฀ Big฀ Five฀
model฀ of฀ personality฀ (agreeableness,฀
conscientiousness,฀ emotional฀ stability,฀
extraversion,฀openness),฀which฀has฀been฀
replicated฀ across฀ a฀ wide฀ range฀ of฀ settings฀(e.g.,฀De฀Raad,฀2000)฀and฀validated฀฀
against฀ many฀ different฀ criteria,฀ including฀(a)฀job฀performance฀(Salgado,฀1997),฀
(b)฀ job฀ satisfaction฀ (Judge,฀ Heller,฀ &฀
Mount,฀2002),฀(c)฀career฀success฀(Judge,฀
Higgins,฀ Thoresen,฀ &฀ Barrick,฀ 1999),฀
(d)฀ life฀ satisfaction฀ (DeNeve฀ &฀ Cooper,฀
1998),฀ and฀ (e)฀ academic฀ performance฀
(Lounsbury,฀ Sundstrom,฀ Loveland,฀ &฀
Gibson,฀ 2003).฀ However,฀ in฀ the฀ present฀
research,฀we฀could฀not฀locate฀any฀studies฀

that฀examined฀the฀Big฀Five฀in฀relation฀to฀
business฀majors.
Recently,฀researchers฀have฀contended฀
that฀the฀Big฀Five฀taxonomy฀is฀too฀broad฀
and฀that฀narrower฀personality฀constructs฀
may฀ contribute฀ uniquely฀ to฀ the฀ prediction฀of฀behavior,฀which฀has฀been฀verified฀
in฀ work฀ and฀ academic฀ domains฀ (e.g.,฀
Lounsbury,฀Sundstrom,฀et฀al.,฀2003;฀Paunonen฀&฀Ashton,฀2001).฀In฀accordance,฀
a฀ second฀ purpose฀ of฀ the฀ present฀ study฀
was฀to฀investigate฀whether฀undergraduate฀ business฀ majors฀ differed฀ from฀ nonbusiness฀ majors฀ on฀ narrow฀ personality฀
traits.฀ For฀ this฀ purpose,฀ we฀ chose฀ four฀
narrow฀traits฀that฀are฀not฀components฀of฀
the฀ Big฀ Five฀ model฀ but฀ that฀ have฀ been฀
linked฀to฀academic฀performance฀and฀the฀
well-being฀ of฀ college฀ students:฀ assertiveness,฀ optimism,฀ tough-mindedness,฀
and฀work฀drive฀(Lounsbury,฀Saudargas,฀
Gibson,฀&฀Leong,฀2005).฀
In฀ addition,฀ we฀ examined฀ whether฀
these฀ personality฀ traits฀ were฀ related฀ to฀
the฀life฀satisfaction฀of฀business฀majors.฀

DeNeve฀ and฀ Cooper฀ (1998)฀ noted฀ that฀฀
there฀ is฀ sound฀ theoretical฀ rationale฀ and฀
ample฀ empirical฀ evidence฀ supporting฀
linkages฀ between฀ life฀ satisfaction฀ and฀
personality฀ traits.฀ Moreover,฀ in฀ Holland’s฀(1985)฀vocational฀model,฀individuals฀experience฀more฀satisfaction฀when฀
there฀ is฀ correspondence฀ between฀ their฀
฀

personality฀ and฀ characteristics฀ of฀ the฀
environment฀ in฀ which฀ they฀ participate.฀
Hence,฀we฀investigated฀whether฀the฀Big฀
Five฀ and฀ narrow฀ personality฀ traits฀ that฀
we฀ examined฀ were฀ related฀ to฀ the฀ life฀
satisfaction฀of฀business฀majors.฀In฀summary,฀ we฀ addressed฀ two฀ main฀ research฀
questions.
Research฀Question฀1฀(RQ1):฀Do฀undergraduate฀ business฀ majors฀ differ฀ from฀
nonbusiness฀majors฀in฀regard฀to฀the฀Big฀
Five฀and฀narrow฀personality฀traits?฀
In฀ view฀ of฀ the฀ preliminary฀ nature฀ of฀
the฀ present฀ study,฀ directional฀ hypotheses฀were฀not฀advanced.

RQ2:฀ How฀ are฀ the฀ Big฀ Five฀ and฀ narrow฀ personality฀ traits฀ individually฀ and฀
jointly฀ related฀ to฀ life฀ satisfaction฀ for฀
undergraduate฀business฀majors?฀
We฀ also฀ examined฀ the฀ aforementioned฀relations฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀meaning฀
of฀ each฀ construct฀ and฀ whether฀ similar฀ differences฀ have฀ been฀ observed฀ in฀
the฀ occupational฀ arena฀ for฀ individuals฀
working฀in฀business฀positions.฀
METHOD
Participants
Students฀who฀were฀enrolled฀in฀a฀1styear฀studies฀program฀(designed฀to฀help฀
students฀ adjust฀ to฀ academic฀ life฀ at฀ the฀
college฀ level)฀ and฀ a฀ career-planning฀
workshop฀ at฀ a฀ large฀ public฀ southeastern฀U.S.฀university฀volunteered฀to฀participate฀in฀the฀present฀study.฀Data฀were฀
collected฀ from฀ a฀ total฀ of฀ 2,599฀ undergraduate฀ students.฀ Of฀ these฀ students,฀
347฀ identified฀ themselves฀ as฀ majoring฀
in฀ business.฀ In฀ all,฀ 832฀ students฀ were฀
men,฀ and฀ 1,767฀ were฀ women.฀ In฀ addition,฀2,131฀of฀the฀participants฀self-identified฀ as฀ White,฀ 312฀ self-identified฀ as฀
Black,฀ 53฀ self-identified฀ as฀ Hispanic,฀
52฀self-identified฀as฀Asian,฀and฀51฀selfidentified฀as฀Other.฀With฀respect฀to฀age,฀
52฀ were฀ younger฀ than฀ 18฀ years,฀ 2,157฀

were฀ between฀ 18฀ and฀ 19฀ years฀ of฀ age,฀
78฀ were฀ between฀ 20฀ and฀ 21฀ years฀ of฀
age,฀53฀were฀between฀22฀and฀25฀years฀
of฀ age,฀ 51฀ were฀ between฀ 26฀ and฀ 30฀
years฀of฀age,฀and฀52฀were฀older฀than฀30฀
years฀of฀age.฀
Procedure
After฀ obtaining฀ approval฀ from฀
the฀ university’s฀ Institutional฀ Review฀

Board,฀we฀solicited฀participants฀to฀take฀
a฀ personality฀ inventory฀ online.฀ Students฀ in฀ an฀ introductory฀ psychology฀
course฀ were฀ offered฀ extra฀ credit฀ for฀
participation.฀
Measures
We฀ used฀ the฀ Resource฀ Associates’฀
Adolescent฀ Personal฀ Style฀ Inventory฀
(APSI)฀ for฀ College฀ Students฀ (Lounsbury฀ &฀ Gibson,฀ 2008).฀ Scale฀ development,฀ norms,฀ reliability,฀ criterionrelated฀ validity,฀ and฀ construct฀ validity฀
information฀ for฀ the฀APSI฀ can฀ be฀ found฀
in฀Lounsbury,฀Tatum,฀et฀al.฀(2003).฀
The฀ following฀ are฀ brief฀ descriptions฀
of฀the฀personality฀traits฀measured฀by฀the฀
APSI,฀ along฀ with฀ the฀ internal฀ consistency฀reliability฀coefficients:
1.฀ Agreeableness฀ was฀ defined฀ as฀
being฀ pleasant,฀ equable,฀ participative,฀
cooperative,฀ and฀ inclined฀ to฀ interact฀
with฀ others฀ harmoniously฀ (Cronbach’s฀
α฀=฀.81).
2.฀ Conscientiousness฀ was฀ defined฀ as฀
being฀ reliable,฀ trustworthy,฀ orderly,฀ de-฀
pendable,฀ organized,฀ and฀ rule-following฀
(Cronbach’s฀α฀=฀.78).
3.฀ Emotional฀ stability฀ was฀ defined฀
as฀ the฀ overall฀ level฀ of฀ adjustment฀ and฀
emotional฀resilience฀in฀the฀face฀of฀stress฀
and฀pressure.฀We฀conceptualized฀this฀as฀
the฀ inverse฀ of฀ neuroticism฀ (Cronbach’s฀
α฀=฀.83).
4.฀ Extraversion฀ was฀ defined฀ as฀ having฀ a฀ tendency฀ to฀ be฀ sociable,฀ outgoing,฀
gregarious,฀warmhearted,฀expressive,฀and฀
talkative฀(Cronbach’s฀α฀=฀.84).
5.฀ Openness฀ was฀ defined฀ as฀ receptivity฀to฀learning,฀new฀experiences,฀novelty,฀
and฀change฀(Cronbach’s฀α฀=฀.78).
The฀following฀are฀narrow฀personality฀
traits:
1.฀Assertiveness฀was฀defined฀as฀speaking฀up฀on฀matters฀of฀importance,฀expressing฀ one’s฀ views฀ and฀ feelings,฀ defending฀
one’s฀ position,฀ seizing฀ initiative,฀ being฀
forceful,฀and฀exerting฀influence฀in฀social฀
settings฀(Coefficient฀α฀=฀.77).
2.฀Optimism฀was฀defined฀as฀having฀an฀
upbeat,฀hopeful฀outlook,฀especially฀concerning฀ plans,฀ prospects,฀ people,฀ and฀
the฀future,฀even฀in฀the฀face฀of฀difficulty฀
and฀ adversity;฀ a฀ tendency฀ to฀ minimize฀
problems฀and฀persist฀in฀the฀face฀of฀setbacks.฀(Coefficient฀α฀=฀.83).
March/April฀2009฀

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3.฀ Tough-mindedness฀ was฀ defined฀
as฀ appraising฀ information฀ and฀ making฀
decisions฀ on฀ the฀ basis฀ of฀ logic,฀ facts,฀
and฀ data฀ rather฀ than฀ feelings,฀ sentiments,฀values,฀and฀intuition฀(Coefficient฀
α฀=฀.79).
4.฀ Work฀ drive฀ was฀ defined฀ as฀ being฀
hard-working,฀ industrious,฀ and฀ inclined฀
to฀put฀in฀long฀hours฀and฀time฀and฀effort฀to฀
make฀good฀grades฀and฀achieve฀at฀a฀high฀
level฀in฀school฀(Coefficient฀α฀=฀.85).
5.฀ Life฀ satisfaction฀ was฀ defined฀ by฀
following฀ Lounsbury฀ et฀ al.฀ (2005):฀ We฀
used฀ a฀ set฀ of฀ 15฀ items฀ to฀ measure฀ life฀
satisfaction฀(Coefficient฀α฀=฀.93).

TABLE฀2.฀Correlations฀Between฀
Personality฀Traits฀and฀Life฀฀
Satisfaction฀for฀Business฀Majors
฀
Personality฀trait฀

Correlation฀with
life฀satisfaction

Agreeableness฀
Conscientiousness฀
Emotional฀stability฀
Extraversion฀
Openness฀
Assertiveness฀
Optimism฀
Tough-mindedness฀
Work฀drive฀

.06
.22**
.43**
.33**
.13*
.27**
.41**
.04
.25**

*

p฀