Personality and decision-making in public administration: the five-factor model in cultural perspective
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852315585062 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Author | R. Paul Battaglio,Erdinc Filiz |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2017, Vol. 83(1S) 3–22
!The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852315585062
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
Personality and decision-making
in public administration:
the five-factor model in
cultural perspective
Erdinc Filiz
Turkish Ministry of Interior Civil Inspection Board, Turkey
R. Paul Battaglio Jr
University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Abstract
Using a cross-sectional survey of 254 Turkish district governors, this study assesses the
impact of personality on decision-making among public managers. The research evalu-
ates self-reported results from the Five-Factor Model of personality and the Decision-
Making Questionnaire of the psychology literature. The findings suggest that Openness,
Conscientiousness, and Extraversion are important in the analysis of decision-making
subjects, tasks, and contexts, respectively. Departing from previous research, the
analysis here suggests that culture and structure are important factors in explaining
personality and decision-making in public administration.
Points for practitioners
This study offers policy implications for the recruitment, performance appraisal, train-
ing, and assignment of practitioners in the public service. Personality assessments can be
used as a valuable tool during the evaluation of public officials under consideration
for recruitment, appointment, and promotion. Matching the personalities of potential
candidates to positions requiring comparable qualifications has important organiza-
tional, personnel, and financial implications. Our research also suggests that decision-
making and personality should also account for social, cultural, and organizational
differences in their applications.
Keywords
decision-making, developing countries, international administration, public
administration
Corresponding author:
R. Paul Battaglio Jr, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, GR31, Richardson,
Texas 75080, USA.
Email: battaglio@utdallas.edu
Introduction
Decision-making is a topic of interest for many disciplines, such as psychology,
politics, public administration, economics, neuroscience, and military sciences.
While organizational decision-making and group decision-making have tradition-
ally received more attention, studies on individual differences in decision-making –
decision-making behavior and the factors that affect it – are increasingly common.
As an essential characteristic affecting decision-making and managerial perfor-
mance, personality research provides credible evidence for real-world performance
(Hogan et al., 1996). Personality is the characteristic of a person that contains a set
of traits, models of thought, feelings, and behaviors (McAdams, 2008). Indeed,
personality assessments are often used as valuable tools for aiding decision-making
and other management functions, such as the recruitment, selection, training, and
placement of the workforce.
Studies of individual differences in decision-making enhance the quality of deci-
sion-making as much as studies of organizational and group decision-making
(Bazerman and Moore, 2009; Lipshitz and Strauss, 1997). Focusing on individuals,
particularly managers, has the potential to shed light on important aspects of
governmental and organizational decision-making (McKinney and Howard,
1998). Understanding these factors and individual differences – and analyzing
their natures – is at the core of the decision-making literature.
To this end, the present research seeks to narrow the gap by analyzing the effects
of personality on executive decision-making in the public sector; specifically, the
decision-making behavior of provincial district governors in the Republic of
Turkey. Indeed, the findings presented here offer a unique perspective on the
influence that personality has on decision-making in a different social, cultural,
and organizational environment. Utilizing the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and
the Decision-Making Questionnaire (DMQ), this study introduces psychometric
analysis of decision-making to the public sector through a survey of senior-level
executives in Turkish provincial government. First, the article examines Turkish
civil administration in order to provide the context. The discussion then reviews
relevant theoretical developments in personality and decision-making; namely, the
FFM and DMQ. The article then establishes a set of hypotheses for evaluation.
In order to test the hypotheses, the present study employs ordinary least squares
(OLS) multiple regression. The methods section of the article discusses data collec-
tion, measurement, descriptive findings, and multivariate analyses. Finally, the
results and discussion sections offer concluding remarks and avenues for further
exploration.
Turkish civil administration
The term civil administrator refers to the chief civil authority of a specific jurisdic-
tion (province and/or district), who works on behalf of the Turkish central
government. Civil administrators are the core managers in the Turkish public
service. They consist of governors, deputy governors, district governors, civil
4International Review of Administrative Sciences 83(1S)
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