|
Article Excerpt
The present study evaluated the 16PF and Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI) in terms of their ability to predict missionary success, as measured by supervisor evaluations and attrition data. A sample of 158 missionary candidates from a large, evangelical mission agency completed the 16PF and the MSI as part of the application process to become career missionaries. The supervisor's recommendations for return to the team were positively correlated with group-orientation on the 16PF. Attrition was negatively correlated with the trait of enthusiasm on the 16PF. Job performance was positively correlated with the trait of group-orientation on the 16PF and negatively correlated with marital distress and dissatisfaction with time spent together on the MSI. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with the traits of being cool and reserved, and conservative on the 16PF.
**********
There is currently a dearth of research linking prefield assessment tools for missionaries and job success. Following Cureton (1988), Hall and Sweatman (2002) articulated the ethical and practical need for studies demonstrating that assessment instruments have criterion-related validity, that is, that they are able to predict how missionaries will do "on the job." This article will explore the predictive value of two of those tools, the 16PF and the MSI, to various aspects of job success. The outcome variable of job success will first be explored, followed by a description of the 16PF. The few studies linking the 16PF to job success will then be reviewed. Marital satisfaction and its potential links to job success will then be discussed.
Job Success
Job success is notoriously difficult to define. Expatriate/missionary success has been operationalized as completion of assignment (Haynes, Tan & Baker, 1990), job satisfaction (Andrews, 1999; Judge, Heller, & Mount, 2002; Sunkyu, Gentry, & Hyun, 2001), adjustment (Caligiuri, 2000; Deller, 1997; Furnham & Erdmann, 1995), and job performance (Dalton & Wilson, 2000; Kraimer, Wayne, & Jaworski, 2001; Mount, Barrick, & Stewart, 1998; Ployhart, Lim, & Chan, 2001). Completion of assignment is perhaps the easiest kind of data to obtain. However, it does not seem adequate to describe the full picture of job success or failure. Job satisfaction may also be a part of job success, but could not be the sole determinant. It is possible, after all, for someone to be very satisfied in a job not well done.
Job performance seems to be the best overall construct for measuring success or failure. At the most concrete level, job performance could be assessed in terms of whether or not the employee completed the task assigned. Sometimes, a task analysis will be able to easily define what the employee is supposed to do and it will therefore be relatively simple to assess whether or not the task was completed. With missionaries, however, the "assigned task" becomes complicated by the nature of the work. Typically, the missionary's job is 24-7 in nature (Hall & Sweatman, 2002). In addition to a specific job title (e.g., translator, pastor), the missionary is also expected to represent Christianity through his or her lifestyle and daily activities. Therefore, the term "job completion" for the missionary encompasses a much wider berth of activities and possibly necessitates a much longer list of competencies to perform the job adequately.
Supporting this conclusion, Kraimer, Wayne, and Jaworski (2001) thought that there should be a contextual dimension added to the task dimension of job success or completion for expatriates. In addition to task completion, a successful expatriate manager must be able to maintain good working relationships with other employees and host nationals in order to be effective. They based this on previous research and the theory that job performance cannot be divorced from cross-cultural adjustment for the expatriate.
16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
Cattell developed the 16PF by studying and measuring personality as recorded by human language (Cattell & Cattell, 1995). He studied these factors of personality through observer ratings, self-reports, and objective behavioral tests and then conducted factor analyses on them. Since the introduction of the 16PF in 1949, a sizable body of literature has accumulated confirming the basic usefulness of the test. The most common critique of the 16PF is that it could be simplified to more basic factors (Noller, Law & Comrey, 1987). Despite the criticism, the 16PF is regarded as one of the more reliable measures of personality.
The 16PF has been empirically linked to job performance. Haynes, Tan, and Baker (1990) administered the MMPI, 16PF, and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to a group of 64 missionaries. They found that the N (privateness) and Q2 (self-reliance) scales predicted the missionaries who persevered. The missionaries who continued tended to be more private and self-reliant. Bartram (1992) profiled 1796 short-listed managerial applicants in the United Kingdom and found that they were more independent, controlled, conventional, and stable extroverts as measured by the 16PF. Britt (1983) conducted a study with 153 adult overseas field staff for the Agape Movement of Campus Crusade for Christ. Job success was measured by a success inventory that was derived from the mission agency's rating system. Success was defined as personal, emotional, social, and spiritual maturity. He found that the "undisciplined vs. controlled" (the ability to bind anxiety) construct on the 16PF accounted for most of the variance in job success. Successful missionaries had better work habits, preferred to keep their emotions under control, and were organized.
Marital Satisfaction
There have been several studies examining the possible positive effects of marital satisfaction on job performance. Rogers and May (2003) found that marital quality has a long term influence over job satisfaction. They used data from a longitudinal study that interviewed participants four times over 12 years, a sample of 1,065 married individuals. Their results indicate that the higher the marital satisfaction, the higher the job satisfaction. They also found that increased marital discord is inversely correlated to job satisfaction. It should be noted that tests of marital satisfaction with better levels of reliability and validity have been developed since the collection of these particular...
|
