Personality Traits Moderate the Effect of Workload Sources on Perceived Workload in Flying Column Police Officers

Previous research has suggested that personality traits of the Five Factor Model play a role in worker's response to workload. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of personality traits of first responders with their perceived workload in real-life tasks. A flying column of 269 police officers completed a measure of subjective workload (NASA-Task Load Index) after intervention tasks in a major public event. Officers' scores on a measure of Five Factor Model personality traits were obtained from archival data. Linear Mixed Modeling was used to test the direct and interaction effects of personality traits on workload scores once controlling for background variables, task type and workload source (mental, temporal and physical demand of the task, perceived effort, dissatisfaction for the performance and frustration due to the task). All personality traits except extraversion significantly interacted at least with one workload source. Perceived workload in flying column police officers appears to be the result of their personality characteristics interacting with the workload source. The implications of these results for the development of support measures aimed at reducing the impact of workload in this category of workers are discussed.

[1]  Paul E. Spector,et al.  The contribution of personality traits, negative affectivity, locus of control and Type A to the subsequent reports of job stressors and job strains , 1994 .

[2]  W. Fleeson,et al.  Considering the role of personality in the work–family experience: Relationships of the big five to work–family conflict and facilitation , 2004 .

[3]  Christopher C. Rosen,et al.  Work Stress and Employee Health , 2013 .

[4]  D. Gallagher.  Extraversion, neuroticism and appraisal of stressful academic events , 1990 .

[5]  G. Matthews.  Human Performance: Cognition, Stress and Individual Differences , 2000 .

[6]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[7]  S. Eckstein.  Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. , 2001, European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine.

[8]  Fabrizio Bracco,et al.  Validazione italiana del NASA-TLX su un campione di motociclisti , 2006 .

[9]  S Garbarino,et al.  Personality traits of the Five-Factor Model are associated with work-related stress in special force police officers , 2014, International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health.

[10]  A. Beck.  Cognitive therapy: A 30-year retrospective. , 1991 .

[11]  T. Someya,et al.  Personality and Resilience Associated with Perceived Fatigue of Local Government Employees Responding to Disasters , 2013, Journal of occupational health.

[12]  S. Folkman,et al.  Stress, appraisal, and coping , 1974 .

[13]  I. Deary,et al.  Personality Traits, 2nd Edition , 1998 .

[14]  Murray R. Barrick,et al.  THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND JOB PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS , 1991 .

[15]  Robert C. Satterwhite,et al.  The Importance of Psychological Traits: A Cross-Cultural Study , 1998 .

[16]  R. R. Abidin.  Psychological Assessment Resources , 1995 .

[17]  F. Jacobs,et al.  The Joint Effect Of Task Characteristics And Organizational Context On Job Performance: A Test Using SEM , 2011 .

[18]  D. Zapf,et al.  Demand-control-person: integrating the demand-control and conservation of resources models to test an expanded stressor-strain model. , 2012, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[19]  I. Deary,et al.  Personality traits, 2nd ed. , 2003 .

[20]  Paul E. Spector,et al.  Can work make you sick? A meta-analysis of the relationships between job stressors and physical symptoms , 2011 .

[21]  J. Penley,et al.  Associations among the Big Five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress , 2002 .

[22]  F. Glen.  The social psychology of organizations , 1976 .

[23]  Laurenz L. Meier,et al.  Effect of workplace incivility on end-of-work negative affect: examining individual and organizational moderators in a daily diary study. , 2015, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[24]  R. Murison,et al.  Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Stress Revisited: a Critical Evaluation of the Stress Concept , 2022 .

[25]  Kevin R. Murphy,et al.  The Relation Between Personality and Contextual Performance in "Strong" Versus "Weak" Situations , 2001 .

[26]  Matthias Berking,et al.  Enhancing emotion-regulation skills in police officers: results of a pilot controlled study. , 2010, Behavior therapy.

[27]  D. Paton.  Critical incident stress risk in police officers: Managing resilience and vulnerability. , 2006 .

[28]  Donald Hedeker,et al.  Advances in analysis of longitudinal data. , 2010, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[29]  Ted Megaw,et al.  The definition and measurement of mental workload , 2005 .

[30]  Gerard Kickul.  Antecedents of self-managed work team performance in a computerized business simulation: Personality and group interaction , 2000 .

[31]  S. Hart,et al.  Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of Empirical and Theoretical Research , 1988 .

[32]  Mark A. Griffin,et al.  Personality and organizational health: The role of conscientiousness , 1999 .

[33]  J. P. Sharpe,et al.  The Revised Neo Personality Inventory and the MMPI-2 Psychopathology Five in the prediction of aggression , 2001 .

[34]  M. Hintsanen,et al.  Personality Traits of the Five-Factor Model Are Associated With Effort–Reward Imbalance at Work: A Population-Based Study , 2012, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[35]  Grant S. Taylor,et al.  Individual differences in response to automation: the five factor model of personality. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[36]  M. Leary,et al.  Handbook of individual differences in social behavior , 2009 .

[37]  Michael E. McCullough,et al.  Vengefulness: Relationships with Forgiveness, Rumination, Well-Being, and the Big Five , 2001 .

[38]  A. Noblet,et al.  Personality and the effort-reward imbalance model of stress: Individual differences in reward sensitivity , 2012 .

[39]  Exposure to night work: serum gastrin reactions, psychosomatic complaints and personality variables. , 1976, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[40]  M. Eysenck,et al.  Personality and Individual Differences: A Natural Science Approach , 1985 .

[41]  Jordan B. Peterson,et al.  Sources of openness/intellect: cognitive and neuropsychological correlates of the fifth factor of personality. , 2005, Journal of personality.

[42]  P. Winwood,et al.  Further Validation of the Psychological Injury Risk Indicator Scale , 2012, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[43]  B. Roberts,et al.  The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies. , 2000, Psychological bulletin.

[44]  M. Hagen,et al.  Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. , 2002, The American psychologist.

[45]  A. DeLongis,et al.  The interactional context of problem-, emotion-, and relationship-focused coping: the role of the big five personality factors. , 1996, Journal of personality.

[46]  I. Emmerik.  Relationships between personality and time-related strains. , 2008 .

[47]  Russell A. Matthews,et al.  Modeling the Stress Process: Personality Eclipses Dysfunctional Cognitions and Workload in Predicting Stress , 2008 .

[48]  D Acquadro Maran,et al.  Occupational stress, anxiety and coping strategies in police officers. , 2015, Occupational medicine.

[49]  Ulrich Frank,et al.  Multilevel Modeling , 2014, Business & Information Systems Engineering.

[50]  P. Costa,et al.  Personality trait structure as a human universal. , 1997, The American psychologist.

[51]  C D Wickens,et al.  Causes of dissociation between subjective workload measures and performance ; Caveats for the use of subjective assessments. , 1986, Applied ergonomics.

[52]  Robert Karasek,et al.  Job decision latitude and mental strain: Implications for job redesign , 1979 .

[53]  Janice Langan-Fox,et al.  Personality and the occupational stressor-strain relationship: the role of the Big Five. , 2007, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[54]  A. Buss,et al.  Personality Traits , 1973 .

[55]  C. Carver,et al.  Dispositional optimism and physical well-being: the influence of generalized outcome expectancies on health. , 1987, Journal of personality.

[56]  S. Miyake.  Multivariate workload evaluation combining physiological and subjective measures. , 2001, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[57]  A. DeLongis,et al.  Coping in context: the role of stress, social support, and personality in coping. , 2005, Journal of personality.

[58]  Monica Rosselli,et al.  Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and effortful control processes , 2002 .

[59]  Diane F. Halpern,et al.  How time‐flexible work policies can reduce stress, improve health, and save money , 2005 .

[60]  M. Bond,et al.  Achieving relationship harmony in groups and its consequence for group performance , 2006 .

[61]  Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen,et al.  Associations between five-factor model traits and perceived job strain: a population-based study. , 2013, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[62]  James L. Szalma,et al.  The Joint Effect of Task Characteristics and Extraversion on The Performance, Workload, and Stress of Signal Detection , 2010 .

[63]  Craig A. Anderson,et al.  Direct and indirect relations between the Big 5 personality traits and aggressive and violent behavior , 2012 .

[64]  Paula G. Williams,et al.  Openness to Experience and stress regulation , 2009 .

[65]  Jonathan E. Fielding,et al.  First Responders : Mental Health Consequences of Natural and Human-Made Disasters for Public Health and Public Safety Workers , 2007 .

[66]  C. L. Rose,et al.  The role of the Big Five personality factors in vigilance performance and workload , 2002 .

[67]  Laura Riolli,et al.  A moderated mediation test of personality, coping, and health among deployed soldiers , 2012 .

[68]  J. Siegrist.  Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. , 1996, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[69]  E Morgan,et al.  Clinical effectiveness. , 1997, Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987).

[70]  James L. Szalma,et al.  Individual Differences in the Stress and Workload of Sustained Attention , 2002 .

[71]  K. Parkes.  Coping, negative affectivity, and the work environment: additive and interactive predictors of mental health. , 1990, The Journal of applied psychology.

[72]  S. Hemenover,et al.  Self-Reported Processing Bias and Naturally Occurring Mood: Mediators between Personality and Stress Appraisals , 2001 .

[73]  Toon W. Taris,et al.  A Critical Review of the Job Demands-Resources Model: Implications for Improving Work and Health , 2014 .

[74]  R. Piedmont,et al.  The Revised NEO Personality Inventory , 1998 .

[75]  F. Cano-García,et al.  Personality and contextual variables in teacher burnout , 2005 .

[76]  Kaileigh A. Byrne,et al.  Who Chokes Under Pressure? The Big Five Personality Traits and Decision-Making under Pressure. , 2015, Personality and individual differences.

[77]  J. Hittner,et al.  Effects of neuroticism and workload history on performance , 2004 .

[78]  P. Bower,et al.  The clinical effectiveness of counselling in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis , 2003, Psychological Medicine.

[79]  C. Barbaranelli,et al.  The "big five questionnaire": A new questionnaire to assess the five factor model , 1993 .

[80]  Rollin McCraty,et al.  Resilience Training Program Reduces Physiological and Psychological Stress in Police Officers , 2012, Global advances in health and medicine.

[81]  James L. Szalma,et al.  Individual differences in performance, workload, and stress in sustained attention: Optimism and pessimism , 2009 .

[82]  Hans J. Eysenck,et al.  Manual of the Eysenck personality questionnaire , 1975 .

[83]  C. Ekkers.  Catecholamine excretion, conscience function and aggressive behaviour , 1975, Biological Psychology.

[84]  W. Kamphuis,et al.  Perceived demands during modern military operations. , 2013, Military medicine.