ABSTRACT
Personality surrounds us at work. Of course, personality is inherently psychological and therefore cannot be directly observed, but the effects are everywhere. A morning training session goes smoothly, but in the afternoon, the negative disposition of one individual sours the experience for the trainer and trainees alike. A manager tries to decide whether the self-esteem of her struggling direct report would be able to handle more forceful encouragement or if a pep talk would be a better tactic. A service representative gets encouraged by coworkers to apply for an open position in management because they believe he would be a “natural leader.” Laypeople and applied psychologists now agree that personality plays an important role in understanding work behavior, and there is a shared awareness that people differ-sometimes greatly-in how they respond to situations encountered in the workplace.
