When does it Pay to be Nice? Agreeableness, Feedback Seeking and Job performance

Using social information processing theory as the overarching framework, this study explores potential reasons for the weak relationship between agreeableness, a big five personality trait, and job performance. We propose that employees’ job performance has differential relationships with the traits of altruism and straightforwardness, two facets of agreeableness. Using data from 501 employees and their managers, we demonstrate that agreeableness and straightforwardness are, respectively, positively and negatively, related to job performance via their impact on feedback seeking behaviors. This divergent relationship partly explains the weak relationship observed between agreeableness and job performance. We further demonstrate how employees’ communication initiative can moderate the relationship between agreeableness facets (altruism and straightforwardness) and job performance. Our findings contribute to the theory of personality and feedback seeking behaviors.