Personality, intrinsic and extrinsic work motivation, and satisfaction / Adrian Furnham and Stephen Cuppello.

Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract : This study re-explored the relationship between work-salient personality traits and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In all, 283 mainly middle-aged adults completed three questionnaires: assessing personality (HPTI: High Potential Trait Indicator), work motivation (WVQ: Work Values Questionnaire) and job satisfaction. We first investigated the factor structure of the WVQ, which measures how important 44 different job features are to the respondent. Results revealed five factors, two about intrinsic and three about extrinsic motivation. Using these factors as independent variables, we regressed gender, age, management level and personality traits as dependent variables. We found personality traits, more than demographic factors, related to motivation factors, particularly intrinsic motivation. We then repeated this analysis on the two higher-order factors (Intrinsic and Extrinsic) and six sub-factors of the WVQ, that was factor analysed by Furnham et al. (2021). Two of the six personality traits measured by the HPTI were consistently related to the various motivational factors, namely Curiosity (Openness) and Ambiguity Acceptance. The importance of personality traits in work motivation is discussed. Limitations are acknowledged.