Prediction of sales success from factorially determined dimensions of personal background data

Abstract

A concurrent validity study was made of the scores of 210 salesmen and 16 district managers on 15 personal background dimensions, identified previously by factor analysis. Differences between factor-score means for the manager and sales groups and for the upper- and lower-rated sales groups were significant for the factors Financial Responsibility (001, 001), Early Family Responsibility (01, 01), and Stability (001, 05). Multiple-regression analyses of the factor scores against each of 5 criterion measures of on-the-job behavior yielded correlations of 42, 50 and 36 for the 3 major criteria of overall performance, and mean and maximum sales volume rank. The criteria route difficulty and tenure gave correlations of 27 and 30. Interpretation of the highest-weighted factors in these analyses indicates the logical, dynamic relationships between personal background and job behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)