Reputational self-awareness: an innovative career development tool
Career Development International
ISSN: 1362-0436
Article publication date: 9 November 2023
Issue publication date: 6 December 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The authors introduce a new construct, reputational self-awareness (RSA). RSA represents the congruence between how individuals think they are viewed by others (i.e. metaperceptions) versus how they are actually viewed (i.e. other ratings). The authors sought to demonstrate that RSA is a superior predictor of performance indices.
Design/methodology/approach
Personality self-ratings from 381 business students and their ratings by 966 others were collected via online surveys. Other raters rated self-raters' personalities as well as their task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs).
Findings
Results indicate that RSA predicts variance in performance above and beyond self-report ratings, and performance is highest when metaperceptions and other ratings of performance are aligned. These results support the use of a multi-perspective approach to personality assessment as a useful tool for coaching and career development.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' results support the use of a multi-perspective approach to personality assessment as a useful tool for coaching and career development. A cross-sectional design was used in which personality and performance data were gathered from respondents, and the P 720 is a relatively new personality instrument.
Practical implications
RSA is a valuable tool for employee development, coaching and counseling because, as extant research and the authors' findings demonstrate, awareness of how others view and judge one, one's reputation is essential information to guide work behaviors and career success. Therefore, a key career-development goal for trainers and counselors should be to use a multi-perspective approach to maximize clients' RSA.
Social implications
Use of other ratings as opposed to traditional self-rating of personality provides superior prediction of behavior and is more useful for career development.
Originality/value
This is the first study to demonstrate utility of RSA, i.e. that individuals who more accurately assess their personality are rated as performing better by others. The authors' results offer new insights for personality research and career development and support the use of personality assessment from multiple perspectives, thus enabling the exploration of potentially insightful research questions that cannot be examined by assessing personality from a single perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Since submission of this article, the following author(s) have updated their affiliation(s): Thomas Stone is at the Department of Psychology, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, USA.
Citation
Foster, J., Stone, T., Jawahar, I.M., Steinheider, B. and Gray, T.W. (2023), "Reputational self-awareness: an innovative career development tool", Career Development International, Vol. 28 No. 6/7, pp. 793-815. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-08-2023-0261
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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