Personality and Situations in Co-Worker Preference : Similarity and Complementarity in Worker Compatibility

Guided by fit-oriented personality theories, we asked with whom people prefer to work, given their own and others' personality traits and in light of trait-relevant work situations. Participants (N=185) completed the Personality Research Form (Jackson, 1989) and rated preference for hypothetical co-workers at opposite poles of Dominance, Affiliation, Autonomy, Defendence, and Abasement in simulated job settings varying in work proximity and supervisory status. As expected, judges preferred co-workers providing opportunity for trait expression (e.g., affiliative judges preferred affiliative co-workers), especially when expecting to work together and in light of who would be in charge (e.g., low-autonomous judges preferred dominant supervisors). Use of personality data in team building is discussed