Short Talks: Wilmot Discusses Research on Personality Traits Associated With Success at Work

University Relations

Michael Wilmot

In this month's Short Talks from the Hill, a research podcast of the U of A Michael Wilmot, assistant professor of management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, discusses two studies on the effect of personality traits and job performance.

The first study combined multiple meta-analyses of the so-called "big five" personality traits — conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and neuroticism. For the second study, Wilmot drilled deeper and focused one trait - agreeableness.

He found that people higher in agreeableness tended to be happier, psychologically healthy and more positive and supportive of relationships with others, both at work and in their personal lives.

"These folks tend to seek and cultivate and maintain positive relationships with others, whether it's spouses, subordinates, peers or supervisors," Wilmot says in the podcast. "They are characterized by strong, rich relationships. In terms of the workplace and their orientation, higher agreeable people — or people who are higher in agreeableness, rather — are more willing and able to work well with others and accomplish collective goals. Teamwork is a great application for such folks."

To listen to the podcast, click the link above or go to Arkansas Research, the home of science and research news at the U of A.

Short Talks From the Hill highlights research and scholarly work at the University of Arkansas. Each segment features a university researcher discussing their work. Previous podcasts can be found at the link above or by visiting arkansasresearch.uark.edu.

Thank you for listening!