Political skill as moderator of personality Job performance relationships

in socioanalytic theory: Test of the getting ahead motive in

automobile sales
Gerhard Blickle
a,
*
, Stephanie Wendel
a
, Gerald R. Ferris
b,1
a
University of Bonn, Germany
b
Department of Management, Florida State University, 821 Academic Way, P. O. Box 3061110, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1110, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 August 2009
Available online 12 October 2009
Keywords:
Job performance
Personality
Political skill
a b s t r a c t
Based on the socioanalytic perspective of performance prediction (Hogan, 1991; Hogan &
Shelton, 1998), this study tests whether the motive to get ahead produces greater perfor-
mance when interactively combined with social effectiveness. Specically, we investigated
whether interactions of the ve-factor model constructs of extraversion and openness to
experience (i.e., operationalizations of the getting ahead motive in the socioanalytic frame-
work) with political skill predict sales performance. The hypotheses were tested in a sample
of 112 car salespersons, and the results supported the extraversion political skill interac-
tion, but not the openness to experience political skill interaction. For individuals high on
political skill, higher levels of extraversion were associated with higher levels of sales. For
individuals low on political skill, higher levels of extraversion were associated with lower
levels of sales. Implications of the results and directions for future research are provided.
2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The sales job is deserving of special attention for its importance to the success of economic organizations. Therefore,
numerous psychological studies have been conducted to identify critical predictors of sales performance (Vinchur, Shipp-
mann, Switzer, & Roth, 1998). Among those predictors, personality traits have been widely researched (Barrick & Mount,
1991; Hurtz & Donovan, 2000; Salgado, 1997; Vinchur et al., 1998). Although, there has been evidence over the years that
personality predicts sales performance, the results have been quite inconsistent (Barrick, Mount, & Judge, 2001).
Hogans (1991; Hogan & Shelton, 1998) socioanalytic theory suggests that personality needs social skill to demonstrate its
inuence, and he argued that specic personality traits are the embodiment of the motives to get along (i.e., personality
traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability) and get ahead (i.e., personality traits of extraversion
and openness to experience). By implication, strong personality prediction of sales performance should not be expected
without the presence of social effectiveness competencies, like social skill.
Political skill is a social effectiveness competency that already has demonstrated its effectives as a predictor of important
work outcomes (e.g., Blickle et al., in press; Ferris, Davidson, & Perrew, 2005; Ferris et al., 2008; Semadar, Robbins, & Ferris,
2006), and moderators of stressstrain (e.g., Perrew et al., 2004) and inuence tacticsperformance (e.g., Treadway, Ferris,
Duke, Adams, & Thatcher, 2007) relationships. In addition, it might be that political skill also plays a facilitating role with
personality in the prediction of sales performance.
0001-8791/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.10.005
* Corresponding author. Address: Arbeits-, Organisations- und Wirtschaftspsychologie, Institut fuer Psychologie, Universitaet Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9,
53111 Bonn, NRW, Germany. Fax: +49 228 734670.
E-mail addresses: gerhard.blickle@uni-bonn.de (G. Blickle), gferris@cob.fsu.edu (G.R. Ferris).
1
Fax: +1 850 644 7843.
Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
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j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ j vb
The purpose of the present study is to examine the interaction of political skill with both extraversion and openness to
experience (i.e., operationalizations of the getting ahead motive; Hogan, 1991; Hogan & Shelton, 1998) in the prediction of
job performance of salespersons, thus investigating the getting ahead motive of socioanalytic theory previously not tested.
Building on previous research (Blickle et al., 2008; Witt & Ferris, 2003), and drawing from Hogan (1983,1991, Hogan &
Shelton, 1998), we tested the hypothesis that higher levels of personality characteristics (i.e., extraversion and openness
to experience) will be associated with higher levels of sales for individuals high in political skill. However, for individuals
low in political skill, higher levels of personality characteristics will be associated with lower levels of sales.
The present study contributes to the body of existing literature in several ways. First, although previous research has
focused on social skill as a moderator of the conscientiousnessperformance (Witt & Ferris, 2003) relationship, the present
study focuses on political skill as a moderator of the extraversionperformance and the openness to experienceperfor-
mance relationships. Second, whereas previous research focused mainly on contextual performance, the present research
focuses on task performance (i.e., sales performance).
Third, while previous research used supervisor ratings of sales performance (Witt & Ferris, 2003), the present research
used actual sales as the criterion measure of sales performance. Finally, whereas previous research in this area examined
conscientiousness (i.e., Witt & Ferris, 2003) and agreeableness (Blickle et al., 2008) as personality predictors of performance,
the present investigation investigates extraversion and openness to experience relationships with performance (i.e., as mod-
erated by political skill), thus permitting an examination of the getting ahead motive in Hogans (1996) socioanalytic per-
spective (i.e., previous research, in examination of conscientiousness and agreeableness, investigated the getting along
motive).
2. Theoretical foundation
2.1. The socioanalytic perspective on job performance
Hogan and Shelton (1998) argued for a socioanalytic view of job performance, which suggests that people are motivated
to get along and get ahead. In order to get along, people need to comply and cooperate with others in a friendly and positive
way (Hogan & Holland, 2003). To get ahead, individuals seek responsibility, are competitive, and try to be recognized (Hogan
& Holland, 2003). Although people are motivated to get along with and ahead of others, the desire, ability, and ultimate suc-
cess of individuals to engage in these endeavors differ from person to person.
The socioanalytic theory postulates (Hogan, 1996) that the motives to get ahead and get along closely intertwine with
basic personality traits. The assumption is (Hogan & Holland, 2003) that while the motive to get along is expressed in the
personality traits of emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, the motive to get ahead is expressed in the
traits of extraversion and openness to experience. In line with these assumptions, previous research (Bradley & Hauenstein,
2006; Digman, 1997) established that two higher-order factors organize basic personality traits.
One super factor combines emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and this represents the motive to
get along with others. People with high ratings on this factor appear positive (i.e., emotional stability), predictable (i.e., con-
scientiousness), and sensitive to others (i.e., agreeableness). The other super factor combines extraversion and openness to
experience, and represents the motive to get ahead of others. People with high ratings on this factor appear self-condent,
ambitious (i.e., extraversion), and striving for personal growth (i.e., openness to experience) (Hogan & Holland, 2003).
Because performance in sales jobs depends on social interaction, a persons social skill is an important part of the socio-
analytic perspective on performance prediction in these types of jobs. Hogan and Shelton (1998) contended that social skill is
a moderator of the relationships between the motive to get ahead and along and job performance evaluations. Through social
skill or effectiveness, one is able to transform intentions to get along and get ahead into actions that are perceived and eval-
uated by others. Social skill allows one to achieve his or her interpersonal goals just as handeye coordination allows one to
hit a tennis ball accurately (Hogan & Shelton, 1998, p. 135). However, there may be other social effectiveness competencies,
like political skill, that can serve this key moderating role in the socioanalytic framework.
2.2. Political skill in organizations
Ferris, Perrew, and Douglas (2002) argued that we have witnessed a proliferation of social effectiveness constructs in the
eld, which facilitate the increased social dynamics that occur in organizations, and although these various constructs reect
some convergence, they nonetheless retain their distinctiveness and unique character as well. They suggested that political
skill is one of these social effectiveness constructs, which combines social understanding with the ability to adjust behavior
to the demands of the situation in ways that inspire trust, condence, and support, appear genuine, and effectively inuence
others (Ferris, Treadway et al., 2005, 2007).
Political skill has been shown to emerge as the best predictor of managerial job performance when examined in compet-
itive prediction with other social effectiveness constructs (i.e., self-monitoring, leadership self-efcacy, and emotional intel-
ligence) (Semadar et al., 2006), and superior to self-efcacy in the prediction of contextual job performance (Jawahar, Meurs,
Ferris, & Hochwarter, 2008). Likewise, political skill emerged as a signicant predictor of overall job performance ratings
after controlling for general mental ability and the Big Five personality variables, both cross-sectionally and predictively
G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335 327
(Blickle et al., in press). Furthermore, political skill was found to predict early employees subsequent income level, hierar-
chical position, and career satisfaction (Ferris et al., 2008). Additionally, political skill has been found to serve as a moderator
of specic relationships, acting as an antidote to the strain reactions from stressors (e.g., Perrew et al., 2004), and facilitating
the effectiveness of inuence tactics on performance outcomes (e.g., Treadway et al., 2007).
Politically skilled persons possess social competencies that enhance their personal and/or organizational goals through
their understanding and inuence of others in social interactions at work. The social astuteness of politically skilled individ-
uals provides them with a keen awareness of both self and others, which gives them the capacity to calibrate and adjust their
behavior to different and changing contexts. This astuteness and contextual adaptability, allow politically skilled individuals
to wield a great deal of interpersonal inuence because their inuence attempts are not perceived as such. Instead, they ap-
pear to possess high levels of genuineness and integrity, which help them to gain the trust and condence of those with
whom they interact. This set of mutually reinforcing competencies allows politically skilled individuals to develop large
and diverse networks of contacts which they can leverage for additional inuence.
3. Present study and hypothesis development
Hogan and Holland (2003) called for aligning predictors with criterion measures instead of using global overall job per-
formance ratings. They found that when predictors and performance criteria were aligned by using their common person-
ality constructs, validities increased. Job performance criteria that align with getting ahead and getting along are represented
by task prociency, leadership, and contextual performance (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993). Task prociency and leadership
concern getting ahead. Personal discipline and facilitating team performance concern getting along.
Previous research has provided empirical support for the socioanalytic theory of personality, but research only has inves-
tigated the getting along motive, and not the getting ahead motive. Witt and Ferris (2003, Studies 13) reported that social
skill moderated the conscientiousnesscontextual performance (i.e., job dedication and interpersonal facilitation; Borman &
Motowidlo, 1993) relationship. Blickle et al. (2008) found that political skill moderated the agreeablenessjob performance
relationship, where the ratings of job performance included task performance, contextual performance, and adaptive perfor-
mance (Schmitt, Cortina, Ingerick, & Wiechmann, 2003). Finally, Witt and Ferris (2003, Study 4) found that social skill mod-
erated the conscientiousnesssales performance relationship, based on a one-item supervisor rating of employee sales
performance.
Therefore, part of the socioanalytic perspective addressing the getting along motive has received consistent empirical
support across two studies and ve total samples (i.e., Blickle et al., 2008; Witt & Ferris, 2003). However, the other main fea-
ture of socioanalytic theory, dealing with the getting ahead motive, has not been empirically investigated to date. It is the
purpose of the present study to address this important need to ensure that the full scope of the socioanalytic theory has been
subjected to empirical investigation.
By denition, sales performance represents task prociency in sales jobs. Therefore, the most valid measures of this kind
of task prociency are actual numbers of sales over a specied time period (e.g., one year). Because the motive to get ahead
represents a competitive drive, and Hogan and Holland (2003) called for aligning predictors with criterion measures, the rel-
ative number of sales (i.e., individual numbers of sales in relation to the mean number of sales in the sales outlets) should be
a better measure of sales performance than the absolute numbers of individuals sales. Next, the socioanalytic theory pos-
tulates that the personality traits of extraversion and openness to experience represent the motive to get ahead (Hogan,
1996).
3.1. Getting ahead motive in the socioanalytic perspective
It follows from the socioanalytic theory that social effectiveness competencies moderate the relationship between extra-
version and relative sales and between openness to experience and relative sales. Therefore, the getting ahead motive was
operationalized in the present study using the two personality constructs of extraversion and openness to experience, and
arguing that each interacts with political skill in the prediction of sales performance (i.e., relative number of sales).
3.2. Extraversion
A person who is high on extraversion can be described as sociable, gregarious, assertive, energetic, and ambitious, and as
someone who seeks excitement and generally tends to be in a good mood (Costa & McCrae, 1992; Goldberg, 1992). Extra-
version has been found to be related to job performance in occupations where interactions with others represent a signi-
cant part of the job (Mount, Barrick, & Stewart, 1998). Specically, in their meta-analytic review of predictors of job
performance for salesmen, Vinchur et al. (1998) found that extraversion was positively associated with actual sales. How-
ever, in an even more comprehensive meta-analysis, Barrick et al. (2001) reported that the credibility interval of the extra-
versionsales performance relationship included zero, and that only 54% of the variance could be accounted for by statistical
artifacts, thus strongly indicating moderating effects of other variables (Champoux & Peters, 1987; Chaplin, 1991).
In short, research supports the characterization of extraversion as a personality trait that reects the individuals desire to
get ahead (Hogan & Holland, 2003; Wiggins & Trapnell, 1996). In accordance with the socioanalytic theory arguments of
328 G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335
Hogan and Shelton (1998), we maintain that political skill (i.e., as a specic operationalization of social effectiveness com-
petencies) and extraversion interact in the prediction of actual sales performance. Therefore, we contend that the interactive
combination of extraversion and political skill yields greater sales performance by providing the complementary motivation
and skill that each alone is lacking. Those with political skill have the astuteness and social capacity to effectively inuence
others in ways that appear to others as pleasant, sincere, and trustworthy.
However, we argue that for those low in political skill, higher levels of extraversion are associated with lower levels of
sales performance. Too much extraversion accompanying low political skill can be detrimental to sales performance. Sales-
persons low in political skill will not be as socially astute, and thus will not be able to read, assess, and calibrate their behav-
ior appropriately for the situation. Therefore, they may behave too assertively, conveying the impression of being
domineering, which is likely to provoke rejection by customers (Blickle, 2003). Additionally, salespersons with low political
skill may seek too much sensation, interfering with their capacity for emotion regulation and suppression (e.g., the inability
of suppressing the expression of feeling bored by certain customers, thus conveying an interpersonally inappropriate emo-
tion to these customers). Therefore, we present the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: There is a signicant interaction of extraversion and political skill on task performance (i.e., sales perfor-
mance) of salespeople. Specically, for salespersons high on political skill, higher levels of extraversion are associated
with higher levels of sales. For salespersons low on political skill, higher levels of extraversion are associated with lower
levels of sales.
3.3. Openness to experience
Persons with high scores on the openness to experience scale describe themselves as curious, creative, unconventional,
and broad-minded. Additionally, they are motivated to become deeply involved in the ctitious world of characters in books,
movies, and plays, as well as to attend to the moods and feelings that different environments produce (McCrae, 1996). Open-
ness to experience is consistently associated with successful training performance, because these persons are more willing to
engage in learning experiences (Barrick et al., 2001).
Thus, salespersons with high scores on openness to experience have the potential for high technical skill, considerable job
knowledge, market savvy, and innovative sales approaches (Hogan & Holland, 2003). In addition, they have a natural facility
with symbols and evocativeemotional language, which is important when potential customers have uncertain, unstable, or
undened preferences, and if they seek to buy dreams and identities (Pfeffer, 1981).
In their meta-analytic review of predictors of job performance for salespeople, Vinchur et al. (1998) found that openness
to experience was associated with actual sales in a highly volatile manner, ranging from r = .19 to r = .20. Also, this nding
was replicated in the meta-analysis by Barrick et al. (2001). Thus, the volatility also strongly indicates moderating effects of
other variables. The results of this body of research suggest that for those high in political skill, openness to experience will
have a positive relationship with sales performance, particularly if symbolic benets are desired by customers (e.g., status,
identity, virtual group membership). We also contend that, for those low in political skill, openness to experience will exhibit
a negative relationship with sales performance. Unconventional salespersons without political skill could be perceived as
unpredictable, unrealistic, or dreamy. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:
Hypothesis 2: There is a signicant interaction of openness to experience and political skill on job performance of sales-
men. Specically, for salespersons high on political skill, higher levels of openness are associated with higher levels of
sales. For salespersons low on political skill, higher levels of openness are associated with lower levels of sales.
4. Method
4.1. Participants and procedure
The study was conducted in cooperation with a German automobile manufacturing company that produces high-quality,
expensive limousines with a conservative style. This company also runs its own sales organization in the domestic market.
Most of the local dealership outlets that sell automobiles manufactured by this company are owned by this company. How-
ever, there are some local automobile dealership outlets not owned by the manufacturer (i.e., these are called free sales out-
lets). The company was asked to provide a random sample of about 300 salespersons because previous experience has shown
a return rate of about one third (Blickle et al., 2008) which would provide sufcient statistical power to test moderation
hypotheses with medium effect sizes (Cohen, 1988; Faul, Erdfelder, Lang, & Buchner, 2007).
Three-hundred ve salespersons were contacted by email throughout Germany during the rst month of the beginning
year. They were invited to voluntarily participate in a web-based self-assessment of social effectiveness and personality
which could help them to improve their sales performance. One-hundred twelve salespersons joined the study, 91 of them
worked in company outlets, and 21 of them worked in free outlets. Salespersons also were asked to report the number of cars
they had sold in the previous year and the average number of cars a salesman had sold at their specic outlet in the previous
year. In addition, they were asked to report age, gender, education, and years of job tenure in the outlet.
G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335 329
Of the salespersons 103 were males (92%). The mean age of the sample was 39.5 years (SD = 8.7 years). The mean number
of years of job tenure was 12.7 years (SD = 7.99 years). Five percent reported nine years of schooling, 32% had 11 years of
schooling (i.e., the German Realschule), and 63% reported 13 or more years of schooling (i.e., the German Gymnasium). Infor-
mation on academic degrees held was provided by 19.6%; 14.3% graduated at the bachelor level, and 5.3% reported holding
master-level degrees.
4.2. Measures
4.2.1. Personality
The personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were
measured with the German version of the NEO-FFI (Borkenau & Ostendorf, 1993; Costa & McCrae, 1989). Each trait is mea-
sured with 12 self-report items each using a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging between 1 = strongly disagree, and
5 = strongly agree. In the present study, internal consistency reliability estimates (i.e., Cronbachs alphas) ranged between
.65 6 a 6 .77, which largely reects a normal range (Borkenau & Ostendorf, 1993).
4.2.2. Political skill
The German version (Blickle et al., 2008) of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) was used to assess self-reported salesperson
political skill (Ferris, Treadway et al., 2005). The PSI is comprised of 18 items, and uses a 7-point Likert-type scale that ranges
between 1 = low, and 7 = high. Sample items include I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others, I am
able to make most people feel comfortable and at ease around me, and I am particularly good at sensing the motivations
and hidden agendas of others, and I try to show a genuine interest in other people. Recent research has reported strong
associations between employee self-reports of political skill and peer reports, subordinate reports, and supervisor reports
(Ferris et al., 2008). The Cronbach alpha reliability for this scale was a = .91.
4.2.3. Sales performance
Salespersons in this study were asked to report the number of cars they had sold in the previous year, and also the average
number of cars a salesperson had sold at their specic outlet in the previous year. Because the survey was conducted in the
rst month of the following year (i.e., January), these numbers were easily accessible by the salespersons. The average num-
ber of cars sold by the salesperson in the previous year was 86.31 (SD = 39.3) cars, with a range between 27 and 250 cars. The
mean number of cars sold at the different outlets was 75.12 (SD = 45.17) cars. The salespersons in this study exceeded the
mean sales performance in their dealership outlets by 23.87%.
As the measure of sales performance, we calculated the relationship between the number of individual sales in the pre-
vious year and the mean number of car sales in the specic dealership outlets in the previous year for each salesperson indi-
vidually. This is a competitive measure of sales performance in line with socioanalytic theory (Hogan & Holland, 2003). This
measure also reects the fact that some dealership outlets have better selling conditions (e.g., outlets in wealthy and/or
highly populated areas in Germany) than others (e.g., outlets in poor and/or rural areas), which consequently also has an
impact on the absolute number of individual car sales.
To verify the number of car sales, we were allowed to contact supervisors of 15 salespersons, and ask themfor the number
of cars sold by their salespersons in the previous year. With these 15 salespersons, the average number of self-reported indi-
vidually sold cars was 81.93 (SD = 25.51) cars. Supervisors reported 82.73 (SD = 28.597) cars sold by their respective sales-
persons (t = .22, df = 14, p > .80). Therefore, self-reports of cars sold and supervisory reports correlated at r = .87 (p < .01),
considerably increasing condence in the validity of the car salespersons self-reports of cars sold.
4.3. Control variables
Because previous research has shown gender (i.e., Bowen, Swim, & Jacobs, 2000) and age (i.e., Waldmann & Avolio, 1986)
affect job performance, these variables were controlled in the data analyses. Additionally, we controlled for educational level
as a proxy for cognitive ability (Vinchur et al., 1998), and years of job tenure in the dealership outlet, because the longer
salespersons work is in a specic dealership outlet, the more repeat customers they can win.
4.4. Data analyses
Hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003) were conducted to examine the
moderating role of political skill on the extraversionsales performance and openness to experiencesales performance rela-
tionships. Gender, age, educational level, and years of job tenure were entered in the rst step as demographic controls. In
the second step, neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were entered as
personality controls. In the third step, political skill was entered, and in the last step, the cross-product terms of extraversion
and political skill and openness to experience and political skill were entered. The political skill scale and the personality
scales were standardized. A signicant change in R
2
in the last step identies an interaction effect.
330 G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335
5. Results
5.1. Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations
Table 1 reports the means, standard deviations, intercorrelations, and Coefcient alpha (a) internal consistency reliability
estimates of all variables. Sales performance was related to years of tenure (r = .41, p < .01), neuroticism (r = .36, p < .01),
and conscientiousness (r = .18, p < .05) in understandable and sensible ways. Political skill, extraversion, and openness to
experience did not relate directly to sales performance. Consistent with previous ndings (Ferris et al., 2005, 2008; Liu
et al., 2007), political skill was negatively correlated with neuroticism (r = .23, p < .05), and positively correlated with extra-
version. (r = .43, p < .05).
5.2. Hierarchical moderated regression results
Table 2 presents hierarchical moderated regression results for the extraversion political skill and openness to experi-
ence political skill to experience interactions. After all variables were entered on the rst three regression steps, the extra-
version political skill interaction term explained a signicant proportion of additional variance in sales performance
(b = .23, DR
2
= .035; p < .05). These results provide support for Hypothesis 1. Consistent with Hypothesis 2, the openness
to experience political skill interaction was positive, but not statistically signicant (b = .12, DR
2
= .015).
The form of the extraversion political skill interaction was illustrated according to the procedure proposed by Cohen
et al. (2003). Three levels of political skill were plotted: at one standard deviation below the mean, at the mean, and at
one standard deviation above the mean. Fig. 1 presents the signicant extraversion political skill interaction effect. As ex-
pected, for individuals high on political skill, higher levels of extraversion were associated with higher levels of sales perfor-
mance. For individuals low on political skill, higher levels of extraversion were associated with lower levels of sales
performance. As can be seen from Fig. 1, salespersons high on extraversion but low on political skill demonstrated sales per-
formance that is 30% less than salespersons high on extraversion and also high on political skill.
5.3. Post-hoc analyses
As a post-hoc analysis, we controlled for the potential impact of free versus directly linked automobile dealership outlets.
However, this additional control variable left above ndings unchanged. In addition, we tested for common variance be-
tween the two interaction terms when we entered the openness to experience political skill interaction in step 4 of the
hierarchical regression analysis alone without the extraversion political skill interaction. However, this did not change
the signicance of the openness to experience political skill interaction. Thus, common variance between these two inter-
action terms was low.
6. Discussion
We hypothesized and tested relationships of extraversion and openness to experience with sales performance, as mod-
erated by political skill, in a test of the getting ahead motive in socioanalytic theory (i.e., proposed by Hogan (1983, 1991),
Hogan and Shelton (1998)) not previously investigated. Overall, the fundamental tenets of socioanalytic theory received sup-
port in this study. Concerning Hypothesis 1, salespersons who were high on both extraversion and political skill demon-
strated greater sales prociency than those who were low on either or both. Furthermore, the combination of high
Table 1
Means, standard deviations, correlations and cronbach alphas in the diagonal.
M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 Age 39.5 8.68
2 Gender .08 .27 .25
**

3 Education 3.29 1.32 19

*
.11
4 Tenure 12.68 7.99 .86
**
.23
*
.17
5 Neuroticism 2.09 .51 .14 .04 .06 .19
*
(.75)
6 Extraversion 3.57 .42 .13 .11 .14 .05 .41
**
(.65)
7 Openness 3.26 .52 .19
*
.08 .14 .20
*
.11 .11 (.74)
8 Agreeableness 3.67 .50 .16 .04 .04 .13 .26
**
.28
**
.04 (.76)
9 Conscientiousness 4.25 .40 .14 .10 .01 .14 .44
**
.25
**
.17 .37
**
(.77)
10 Political skill 5.95 .67 .16 .14 .14 .09 .23
*
.43
**
.10 .01 .15 (.91)
11 Cars sold 23.87 39.95 .27
**
.11 .08 .41
**
.36
**
.06 .01 .06 .18
*
.11
Note. N = 112. Cronbach Alphas in the diagonal; gender 0: male 1: female. Cars sold = percentage of cars sold compared to the average number of cars sold
by a sales agent in the same sales outlet (0 = average percentage).
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335 331
extraversion and low political skill was associated with the lowest sales performance levels. Concerning our second hypoth-
esis, the results were not as favorable. Our multiple regression analysis did not demonstrate the hypothesized statistically
signicant interaction effect between openness to experience and political skill. However, as expected, the interaction term
was positive in sign.
6.1. Theoretical implications
The socioanalytic theory of personality and job performances (Hogan & Shelton, 1998) links three theoretical concepts;
namely, self-ratings of personality traits, social effectiveness, and job performance. It holds that social effectiveness moder-
ates the relationship between self-reports of personality traits and different forms of job performance. At the same time,
meta-analyses on the relationship between self-ratings of personality traits and job performance reported mixed, and seem-
ingly inconsistent, results (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Barrick et al., 2001; Hurtz & Donovan, 2000; Salgado, 1997; Vinchur et al.,
1998).
The socioanalytic theory is important because it offers hypotheses that can explain why these results are mixed, but still
represent a consistent pattern of relationships. This has been successfully demonstrated in previous studies on the relation-
ships between conscientiousness and job performance (Witt & Ferris, 2003), and agreeableness and job performance (Blickle
et al., 2008). In both studies, social effectiveness moderated the personalityperformance relationship.
Table 2
Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Cars Sold by Salespersons.
Predictors Criterion Variable = Cars Sold
D DR
2
R
2
korr
Block
1 Age .29
Gender .03
Education .02
Tenure .65
**
.19
**
.16
**
2 Neuroticisms .31
**
Extraversion .06
Openness .08
Agreeableness .05
Conscientiousness .07
.09
*
.22
**
3 Political Skill .09 .01 .22
**
4 Extraversion Political skill .23
*
Openness Political skill .12
.05
*
.25
**
Note: N = 112. Cars sold = percentage of cars sold compared to the average number of cars sold by a sales agent in the same sales outlet.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
Fig. 1. Interaction of political skill and extraversion on sales. Note. 0 = average sale per sales agent at the sales unit PSI, political skill inventory.
332 G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335
In addition, in the present study, performance was not measured by ratings but by an objective, actual sales performance
measure. The present ndings underscore the importance of social effectiveness competencies as moderators of the person-
alityperformance relationships. Social effectiveness allows individuals to achieve their interpersonal goals, just as handeye
coordination allows individuals to hit a tennis ball accurately (Hogan & Shelton, 1998). In sum, this study sheds some light
on the seemingly inconsistent ndings in meta-analytic reviews on personalityjob performance relationships in the last
two decades.
Although the openness to experience social effectiveness interaction positively predicted sales performance, it did not
achieve statistical signicance at conventional levels. There may be several reasons for this. First, sampling error cannot be
excluded as a potential explanation (Hunter & Schmidt, 2004). Second, the importance of learning and symbolic manage-
ment in sales jobs may vary with the kind of products to be sold. Although openness to experience of salespersons should
be important with highly innovative and symbolic goods (e.g., designer products), openness to experience may be less
important with more conventional products that reect more xed symbolic meaning (e.g., automobiles).
Third, Hogan and Holland (2003) suggested measuring openness to experience with two scales instead of one global scale,
namely, so called intellectance, which reects creativity and so called school success, which reects achievement orien-
tation. Although achievement motivation may be more predictive of success with selling more conventional products, intel-
lectance may be more predictive of success with selling innovative and ambiguous symbolic goods.
If the salespersons reported correctly (i.e., and we have sound rationale, and conrmation from select sales managers, to
believe these data are valid), the number of cars sold by themselves and the reference standard (i.e., number of cars sold at
average by a salespersons at the dealership outlet) demonstrated that the high performers among salespersons were well
represented in this sample, as can be seen from the relative number of individual sales which was about 24% above average.
Thus, although our ndings may not be generalized to all salespersons, these results would seem to generalize to the higher
performing salespersons among them.
6.2. Strengths and limitations
The present study has several noteworthy strengths. First, we tested and found support for the role of the getting ahead
motive in the socioanalytic perspective of the personalityperformance relationship. Second, we sampled employees from
only one kind of job, thereby improving control over unknown third variables. Third, performance evaluation was not based
on subjective evaluations but on an objective performance measure. Fourth, we controlled for important third variables, such
as years of job tenure and neuroticism, which also demonstrated an impact on sales performance, thus eliminating alterna-
tive explanations of our ndings. Finally, our study adds to the expanding literature that relates social effectiveness con-
structs (e.g., political skill) to job performance.
One limitation of our study is that we used self-reports of objective sales performance instead of archival data of objective
sales performance, because the organization would not release the actual sales data. However, because the performance
information was very simple (i.e., number of cars sold), it was very salient to the salespersons, and we asked participants
to report this number at the start of the year (i.e., from the previous year just ending), it was very fresh in their mind
and easy to remember.
Furthermore, although we were not permitted access to the actual sales performance records of the dealership outlets, we
were allowed limited access to interview supervisors of 15 of the salespersons in our sample regarding their sales perfor-
mance over the previous year. Indeed, the salespersonsself-reports of cars sold and their supervisor car sales reports corre-
lated at r = .87 (p < .01), thereby substantially increasing condence in the validity of the car salespersons self-reports of cars
sold. Self-reports of objective data have been shown to correlate highly with archival company records in other studies
(Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995; Turban & Dougherty, 1994).
Another limitation is that we used broad factors of personality (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) as predic-
tors, but some researchers (e.g., Murphy & Dzieweczynski, 2005) have suggested using narrower facets of these factors, par-
ticularly when the criterion also is narrow. A nal limitation is that the study was cross-sectional and not predictive.
6.3. Directions for future research
All previous tests of the socioanalytic theory have measured the motive to get ahead and the motive to get along only
implicitly by employing measures of personality traits such as the Big Five personality traits. Future research should measure
these basic social motives more explicitly, for example by drawing on work values (Super, 1970, 1973). These more explicit
measures should increase the strength of the tests of socioanalytic theory.
Another avenue for future research is to investigate the composition of social skill or effectiveness. As articulated by
Hogan and Lock (1995), and reviewed by Hogan and Shelton (1998), social skill has been argued to contain seven dimen-
sions, including sensitivity to others, exibility, ability to persuade others, ability to instill trust in others, consistency in
interactions, accountability to others, and ability to maintain communication with a wide range of persons. These seven
categories appear to describe many aspects of a politically skilled person, such as the abilities to persuade and to instill trust
in others, and possessing interpersonal sensitivity and exibility. Future research could test the socioanalytic model using
social ability constructs that address other aspects, such as emotional skills (Blickle, Momm, Schneider, Gansen, & Kramer,
2009).These investigations could further our understanding of the nature of social effectiveness.
G. Blickle et al. / Journal of Vocational Behavior 76 (2010) 326335 333
7. Conclusion
The present study investigated the previously untested getting ahead motive of socioanalytic theory, and found support.
Specically, the extraversion political skill interaction demonstrated signicant impact on the sales performance of car
salespersons. That is, political skill facilitated the sales performance of extraverted salespersons, but extraverted salesper-
sons exhibited poorer sales performance if they were low in political skill. Further delineation of social effectiveness com-
petencies and their interactive relationship with personality in performance prediction seems to be a promising avenue
for future investigation.
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