Time lagged relationships between core self-evaluations and performance.

In organizational behavior literature, the personality - performance relationship has been studied extensively. However, up until now, most studies focused on linking between-person differences in the Big Five personality dimensions to between-person differences in in-role performance (i.e., task performance). The current paper builds on core self-evaluations (CSE); an alternative, broad personality dimension that has proven to be a good predictor of performance and on extra-role performance. More specifically, we test the directional within-person relationship between CSE and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). To this end, we conducted two experience sampling studies; a first one in which 54 employees reported on their state CSE and levels of momentary OCB three times a day for 10 consecutive working days, and a second study in which 30 employees reported on their level of state CSE and momentary CWB three times a day for five consecutive working days. Results showed that there is substantial within-person variability in CSE, and that this variability is predictive of within-person differences in OCB and CWB towards the organization, but not of within-person differences in OCB and CWB towards the individual. These findings show that state CSE leads to extra-role performance (towards the organization), rather than the other way around.