Over the past decade, there has been accumulating evidence that both cognitive and non-cognitive skills contribute to educational, social and occupational success (Heckman, 2012). Job performance, an indicator of occupational... [ view full abstract ]
Over the past decade, there has been accumulating evidence that both cognitive and non-cognitive skills contribute to educational, social and occupational success (Heckman, 2012). Job performance, an indicator of occupational success, has typically been broken down into three categories: task performance, citizenship behaviors (positively adding to the social or psychological environment) and counterproductive behaviors (actions that harm the company and its members) (Rotundo & Sackett, 2002). General cognitive ability has been shown to be a robust predictor of task performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004), although little is known about the extent to which cognitive and non-cognitive skills contribute to the other two components of job performance, which are distinct constructs (Sackett et al., 2006) with different factors influencing their respective behavior sets (Berry et al., 2007). Using a unique longitudinal dataset spanning adolescence through middle age, we sought to determine whether cognitive and non-cognitive factors contribute differentially to the behavioral components of job performance and how these contributions relate to rearing social class.
Longitudinal research conducted by Roberts and colleagues (2007) suggests that both personality and intelligence at age 17 correlate with counterproductive work behaviors later in life. The current research will, in part, try to replicate those findings and extend this research by examining citizenship behaviors and “soft skills.” Participants will include approximately 300 individuals from the Minnesota Twin and Family Study (MTFS) who were initially assessed at age 17, with follow-up assessments at ages 20, 24, and 29. The most recent follow-up, when participants are in their early 40s, includes workplace behavior measures and is currently ongoing.
Preliminary analysis (N=145) relating predictors assessed at age 17 and job performance assessed in midlife found that soft skills (a summary measure of the personality, school related behavior, and reversed externalizing behavior; see McGue et al., 2017) were significantly and moderately related to both counterproductive work behaviors and organizational citizenship behaviors. In contrast and unexpectedly, general cognitive ability was not significantly associated with either job performance components. This contradicts both the findings of Roberts et al. (2007) who found a positive relationship between intelligence and counterproductive work behavior, and that of Dilchert and colleagues (2007) who found a negative relationship between the two factors. Also unexpected, rearing SES was not significantly associated with either job performance component. Results from the expanded sample as well as a parallel sample of adopted adults will be presented and interpreted in terms of how skills, both cognitive and non-cognitive, contribute to later workplace behaviors.
