Reciprocal relationships between personality traits and job satisfaction? A continuous time approach with two investigations

Abstract

Challenging the traditional perspective in organizational research that personality traits represent stable predictors of work outcomes, researchers have begun investigating how work experiences fuel personality trait development. Yet, research has yielded mixed findings on whether work experiences (e.g., job satisfaction) can indeed shape personality adaptation. Drawing on recent development in personality science highlighting influences of psychological and idiosyncratic work experiences as positive or negative reinforcements in personality change, we conducted two studies to examine whether and how job satisfaction may influence, and be influenced by, the Big Five personality traits at the within-person level. We first conducted a preregistered continuous time meta-analysis of existing longitudinal studies ( k = 11, N ≈ 142,914). We followed up with an 11-wave, higher temporal resolution primary study conducted over 3 years with an independent sample ( N > 2,000). Convergent results demonstrated that within-person changes in job satisfaction were positively related to subsequent changes in conscientiousness and emotional stability, and increases in these two traits were associated with subsequent increases in job satisfaction. Sample characteristics and job contexts moderated the within-person relationships between job satisfaction and personality traits. The magnitudes of the socialization effects of job satisfaction on personality traits and the selection effects of personality traits on job satisfaction evolved in an inverted U-shaped manner across long and intermediate timescales. Our findings highlight reciprocal within-person relationships between job satisfaction and personality traits and the important role of time in shaping these effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)