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The Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Job Performance: A Two-Dimensional Empirical Study Based on Task Performance and Contextual Performance of Life Insurance Sales Agents

Author(s)

Zhimei Wang1, Hongfeng Song2,*

Affiliation(s)

1Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China 2School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

The job performance of life insurance sales agents directly determines the sales outcomes and sustainable development of insurance companies, and making the selection of high-quality agents is always a critical issue. Grounded in the Big Five personality theory and the task-contextual performance model, this study examines the mechanism through which agents' personality traits affect job performance, using a sample of 266 life insurance sales agents. The results indicate that: (1) Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness significantly predict task performance; (2) Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness notably influence contextual performance; (3) All traits except Agreefulness show significant predictive power for overall performance. This study identifies the personality profile of high-performing agents, providing empirical evidence for talent selection while expanding the application boundaries of Big Five theory in occupational contexts.

Keywords

Big Five Personality Traits; Task Performance; Contextual Performance; Life Insurance Sales

References

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