Relationship of core self-evaluations traits--self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability--with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis.

This article presents meta-analytic results of the relationship of 4 traits-self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (low neuroticism)-with job satisfaction and job performance.With respect to job satisfaction, the estimated true score correlations were .26for self-esteem, .45 for generalized self-efficacy, .32 for internal locus of control, and .24for emotional stability.With respect to job performance, the correlations were .26for self-esteem, .23 for generalized self-efficacy, .22 for internal locus of control, and .19 for emotional stability.In total, the results based on 274 correlations suggest that these traits are among the best dispositional predictors of job satisfaction and job performance.T. A. Judge, E. A. Locke, and C. C. Durham's (1997) theory of core selfevaluations is used as a framework for discussing similarities between the 4 traits and their relationships to satisfaction and performance.Recently, Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997) proposed a higher order construct they termed core self-evaluations or, more simply, positive self-concept.According to Judge et al. (1997), this construct is a broad dispositional trait that is indicated by four more specific traits-self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (low neuroticism).The core selfevaluations construct was originally proposed as a potential explanatory variable in the dispositional source of job satisfaction.Subsequently, Judge and colleagues also have argued that the construct should be related to work motivation and, ultimately, to job performance (Judge, Erez, & Bono, 1998).Investigations of a link between core self-evaluations and job performance, however, are lacking.Despite a lack of studies linking the core self-evaluations factor to job satisfaction and, especially, to job performance, three of the core traits (self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional stability) appear to be the most widely studied personality traits in personality and applied psychology. 1 Yet, with the exception of emotional stability and job performance, we have found no metaanalyses of the relationship between any of these traits with either job satisfaction or job performance. 2Thus, the purpose of the present study is to provide a quantitative review of the literature that examines the relationship of the four core self-evaluation traits with job satisfaction and job performance.This study determines whether general relationships exist and, if so, what the magnitudes of these relationships are.In the next section, we provide a brief review of the four traits and discuss the possible relationship of these traits with both job satisfaction and job performance.