Dispositional Antecedents of Demonstration and Usefulness of Voice Behavior

To examine the relationship between Five-Factor Model (FFM) and non-FFM personality traits that are theoretically relevant to voice behavior and the demonstration and usefulness of voice behavior. A survey was conducted measuring personality with 244 MBA and undergraduate students. Their instructors kept track of all incidents of student voice behavior, and evaluated the usefulness of the suggestions. Extraversion, conscientiousness, and proactive personality were associated with voice presence. Conscientiousness and proactive personality also were associated with ratings of the usefulness of the suggestions contained in the voice communications. When all FFM and non-FFM traits studied were simultaneously entered into a single regression equation, only proactive personality significantly predicted the usefulness of the voice behaviors. The results indicate that proactive personality was more predictive than the FFM traits of voice behavior directed toward one's supervisor and the usefulness of the voice. Future research should validate these findings in a more traditional organizational setting. This work is one of the few studies that have employed a field setting to study the presence and usefulness of voice behaviors. Another gap filled by the present research is comparing the predictive validity of FFM and non-FFM personality traits on voice presence, and examining the relationship between the personality of the voice contributors and the target's evaluation of the voice usefulness in a field setting.