Longitudinal reciprocal relationships between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction

This study aims to understand change in core self-evaluations by investigating dynamics of CSE and life experiences as indicated by job satisfaction with a multilevel perspective in terms of within- and between-individual change. Core self-evaluations have been proposed as static personality traits that influence individuals’ life experiences from the dispositional perspective. However, core self-evaluations were derived from and can also be influenced by life experiences from the contextual perspective. Based on the corresponsive principle of personality development, this study incorporated both dispositional and contextual perspectives of personality to examine longitudinal reciprocal relationships between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction with changes operating in within-person and between-person process. Longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey from 1997 to 2006 were used. A total of 5,827 participants are selected in the database (48.6% are males and 51.4% are females). Issues relating to within- and between-person change phenomena of core self-evaluations and job satisfaction were first addressed. Then, latent difference score models and cross-lagged models were used to examine the longitudinal reciprocal relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction for within- and between-person changes, respectively. In general, results revealed that there is a longitudinal reciprocal relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction both at within- and between-person change process. The current findings suggested core self-evaluations as a whole is a dynamic construct that continues interact with life experiences, rather than a static personality trait.