RESEARCH REPORTS Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations to Goal Setting, Motivation, and Performance

A newly developed personality taxonomy suggests that self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and neuroticism form a broad personality trait termed core self-evaluations. The authors hypothesized that this broad trait is related to motivation and performance. To test this hypothesis, 3 studies were conducted. Study 1 showed that the 4 dispositions loaded on 1 higher order factor. Study 2 demonstrated that the higher order trait was related to task motivation and performance in a laboratory setting. Study 3 showed that the core trait was related to task activity, productivity as measured by sales volume, and the rated performance of insurance agents. Results also revealed that the core self-evaluations trait was related to goal-setting behavior. In addition, when the 4 core traits were investigated as 1 nomological network, they proved to be more consistent predictors of job behaviors than when used in isolation. The role of personality in research on work motivation has a checkered history. As Gellatly (1996) noted, "Attempts to empir-ically link personality characteristics with motivational variables have produced inconsistent results " (p. 474). A primary reason for these inconsistencies is the lack of personological framework