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In today's fast-paced work environment, preference for multitasking is an important personality predictor of job-related affect, and relevant to the recruitment process in jobs requiring multitasking. Using a sample of 527 managers within a large, financial organization, we investigate the nomological net of this construct in relation to commonly assessed work-related personality correlates. Our results suggest individuals with high levels of sociability, energy, and self-reliance have the positive energy and outlook needed to take on multiple tasks at the same time. Individuals who prefer more organization and detail-orientation are likely to feel less comfortable in roles requiring multitasking.
INTRODUCTION
The dynamic and changing nature of today's jobs has created a work environment wherein individuals are called on to effectively and efficiently attend to a variety of tasks - often simultaneously - over a short period of time. Indeed, many job descriptions, interview questions, and realistic job previews emphasize the importance of multitasking (Ishizaka et al., 2001; König, Buhner, & Murling, 2005). Interestingly, one's preference for multitasking is not necessarily indicative of one's ability to do so effectively (Konig et al., 2005). Instead, research suggests that whereas multitasking ability is predictive of work performance, one's preference for multitasking is predictive of work affect (Fahr, 2011; Kaff, 2004). Although much research has explored predictors of multitasking ability (Colom, Martinez-Molina, Shih, & Santacreu, 2010; Hambrick, Oswald, Darowski, Rench, & Brou, 2009; Konig et al., 2005; Sanderson, 2012), relatively little empirical attention has been paid to preference for multitasking (Palmer & Schoorman, 1999; Poposki & Oswald, 2010). Since preference for multitasking is an enduring personality trait (Conte & Jacobs, 2003; Landy et al., 1991; Slocombe & Bluedorn, 1999) with implications for work satisfaction, commitment, withdrawal, and turnover intentions (Fahr, 2011; Kaff, 2004), a deeper understanding of its predictors and correlates is an important and practical question for research.
Existing empirical research on the personality profile of individuals who prefer multitasking (e.g., Conte & Jacobs, 2003; Conte et al., 1999; Kantrowitz et al., 2012; Schell & Conte, 2008) has been limited by conceptualizing personality in the broad terms of the Big Five factors of personality (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Although the Big Five framework provides a parsimonious and comprehensive modeling of individual personality (Goldberg, 1990), when attempting to predict...