The relationship between big five personality and job satisfaction among support staff in UTM, Johor campus

Abstract

This study aims to identify the relationship between Big Five Personality and job satisfaction in UTM, Johor campus. Respondents of the study consisted of 272 support staffs. Personality Big Five was measured by using the NEO Five Factor Inventory (McCrae, 2004). Meanwhile, job satisfaction was measured by using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) (Weiss et al, 1967). The findings of the pilot study showed that Alpha Cronbach for Big Five Personality is between .75 to .88 and .84 to .85 for job satisfaction. Descriptive statistical analysis consists of frequency and percentage and inferential statistics of Pearson Correlation coefficients were used to test the hypothesis of the study at a significant level of .05. The findings showed that the most dominant dimension based on Big Five Personality for support staffs in UTM, Johor campus is agreeableness, whereas the level of job satisfaction is low. The results also showed that there is a significant relationship between conscientiousness and job satisfaction (r = 0.24, p <.05). While the agreeableness was also found to have significant relationship with job satisfaction (r = 0.25, p <.05). This study provides information on differences of Big Five Personality dimensions among support staffs, where UTM’s management can use the information to assist support staffs improving their job satisfaction. This study also provides some suggestions for improvement in the future.