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Does it pay off to act conscientiously, both now and later? Examining concurrent, lagged, and cumulative effects of state conscientiousness

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Abstract
Although previous research has shown that both trait and state conscientiousness are positively associated with a wide range of positive life and work outcomes, some studies indicate that acting in a conscientious way is effortful, and that behaving outside one’s conscientiousness related comfort zone (i.e., acting counterhabitual) may lead to cognitive or affective cost. Because these costs are not likely to be evident immediately, we examine how within-person fluctuations in conscientiousness relate to within-person fluctuations in emotional exhaustion, resource depletion, and negative affect, not only concurrently, but also in a delayed fashion and cumulated over time. In two experience sampling studies, we found that higher levels of conscientiousness are concurrently related to lower levels of emotional exhaustion, resource depletion, and negative affect. When looking at delayed effects, no conclusive evidence was found for affective or cognitive costs of (counterhabitual) conscientiousness. Finally, analyzing cumulative effects revealed that repeated negative deviations from one’s typical level of conscientiousness were positively associated to exhaustion, depletion, and negative affect, while repeated positive deviations were negatively associated with depletion and unrelated to exhaustion and negative affect. Altogether, our findings suggest that self-rated conscientious behavior is generally beneficial, even if this behavior goes against one’s typical behavior.
Keywords
Social Psychology, conscientiousness, counterhabitual behavior, emotional exhaustion, resource depletion, negative affect, PERSONALITY-TRAITS, JOB-PERFORMANCE, POSITIVE AFFECT, NEGATIVE AFFECT, BEHAVIOR, PREDICTORS, EXTROVERSION, OUTCOMES, PURSUIT, BURNOUT

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MLA
Kuijpers, Evy, et al. “Does It Pay off to Act Conscientiously, Both Now and Later? Examining Concurrent, Lagged, and Cumulative Effects of State Conscientiousness.” EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, vol. 38, no. 1, 2024, pp. 21–35, doi:10.1177/08902070221124705.
APA
Kuijpers, E., Pickett, J., Wille, B., & Hofmans, J. (2024). Does it pay off to act conscientiously, both now and later? Examining concurrent, lagged, and cumulative effects of state conscientiousness. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, 38(1), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221124705
Chicago author-date
Kuijpers, Evy, Jennifer Pickett, Bart Wille, and Joeri Hofmans. 2024. “Does It Pay off to Act Conscientiously, Both Now and Later? Examining Concurrent, Lagged, and Cumulative Effects of State Conscientiousness.” EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY 38 (1): 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221124705.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Kuijpers, Evy, Jennifer Pickett, Bart Wille, and Joeri Hofmans. 2024. “Does It Pay off to Act Conscientiously, Both Now and Later? Examining Concurrent, Lagged, and Cumulative Effects of State Conscientiousness.” EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY 38 (1): 21–35. doi:10.1177/08902070221124705.
Vancouver
1.
Kuijpers E, Pickett J, Wille B, Hofmans J. Does it pay off to act conscientiously, both now and later? Examining concurrent, lagged, and cumulative effects of state conscientiousness. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY. 2024;38(1):21–35.
IEEE
[1]
E. Kuijpers, J. Pickett, B. Wille, and J. Hofmans, “Does it pay off to act conscientiously, both now and later? Examining concurrent, lagged, and cumulative effects of state conscientiousness,” EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 21–35, 2024.
@article{01GW28QH7PWD233HEB8SD7DHB2,
  abstract     = {{Although previous research has shown that both trait and state conscientiousness are positively associated with a wide range of positive life and work outcomes, some studies indicate that acting in a conscientious way is effortful, and that behaving outside one’s conscientiousness related comfort zone (i.e., acting counterhabitual) may lead to cognitive or affective cost. Because these costs are not likely to be evident immediately, we examine how within-person fluctuations in conscientiousness relate to within-person fluctuations in emotional exhaustion, resource depletion, and negative affect, not only concurrently, but also in a delayed fashion and cumulated over time. In two experience sampling studies, we found that higher levels of conscientiousness are concurrently related to lower levels of emotional exhaustion, resource depletion, and negative affect. When looking at delayed effects, no conclusive evidence was found for affective or cognitive costs of (counterhabitual) conscientiousness. Finally, analyzing cumulative effects revealed that repeated negative deviations from one’s typical level of conscientiousness were positively associated to exhaustion, depletion, and negative affect, while repeated positive deviations were negatively associated with depletion and unrelated to exhaustion and negative affect. Altogether, our findings suggest that self-rated conscientious behavior is generally beneficial, even if this behavior goes against one’s typical behavior.}},
  author       = {{Kuijpers, Evy and Pickett, Jennifer and Wille, Bart and Hofmans, Joeri}},
  issn         = {{0890-2070}},
  journal      = {{EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY}},
  keywords     = {{Social Psychology,conscientiousness,counterhabitual behavior,emotional exhaustion,resource depletion,negative affect,PERSONALITY-TRAITS,JOB-PERFORMANCE,POSITIVE AFFECT,NEGATIVE AFFECT,BEHAVIOR,PREDICTORS,EXTROVERSION,OUTCOMES,PURSUIT,BURNOUT}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{21--35}},
  title        = {{Does it pay off to act conscientiously, both now and later? Examining concurrent, lagged, and cumulative effects of state conscientiousness}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221124705}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

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