Personality Traits and Psychological Well-Being as Determinants of Job Satisfaction among University Teachers: A Correlational Study
Author: Anjum Qayyum, Dr. Sadaf Naz, Dr. Sadaf Iqbal
Abstract
This study analyzes how psychological well-being and personality traits relate to job satisfaction among higher education academicians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study utilized a descriptive, correlational research design to gather empirical data from 430 faculty members across five public sector universities. The study focused on the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) and key dimensions of psychological well-being, including autonomy, environmental mastery, and personal growth. Pearson correlation analyses indicated significant positive correlations between extraversion, conscientiousness, and autonomy with job satisfaction, whereas neuroticism demonstrated a notable negative correlation. The empirical evidence suggests that specific personality traits, alongside strong psychological wellbeing metrics, serve as critical predictors of occupational satisfaction within academia. Given the increasingly demanding nature of contemporary higher education, these findings underscore an imperative for institutional policy interventions designed to cultivate faculty autonomy and systematically align administrative frameworks with educators’ psychological profiles to optimize overall job satisfaction and well-being.
Keywords
Personality, Psychological well-being, Job satisfaction, Big Five traits, Higher education.
References
Ahmed, S., & Bashir, M. (2024). Minimizing sampling bias in educational research: The efficacy of
census approaches in departmental studies. Journal of Academic Research Analytics, 12(1),
88–104.
Ahmed, Z., & Khan, N. (2025). The hybrid motivation model: Re-evaluating Herzberg in the
Pakistani higher education landscape. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 45(2), 312–329.
Al-Farsi, S., & Henderson, J. (2025). Faculty strategies in a globalized academic environment:
Transcending administrative boundaries. Journal of Academic Leadership, 18(2), 112–129.
Baldwin, R. G., & Bedell-Avers, K. E. (2002). The scholarship of teaching and learning: A review of
the literature. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(4), 440–462.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2002.11777162
Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance:
A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-
6570.1991.tb00688.x
Berman, L., & West, T. (2025). Adapting to the digital-first classroom: The role of personality in
faculty resilience. Educational Technology Research and Development, 73(1), 45–62.
Cheng, Y. C., & Leung, W. L. (2011). Teacher leadership in the Chinese context: The influence of
teachers’ professional learning. Educational Management Administration & Leadership,
39(4), 498–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143211402561
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national
index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34
Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The Big-Five factor structure.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1216–1229.
https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.59.6.1216 Cited by: 13101
Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public domain, personality inventory measuring the
lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F.
Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality Psychology in Europe (Vol. 7, pp. 7–28). Tilburg University
Press.
Haq, M., & Saleem, R. (2024). The role of leadership styles, work-life balance and the physical
environment in promoting psychological well-being: A job demands-resources perspective.
Information Management and Business Review, 16(3S), 114–128.
https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v16i3S(I)a.4204
Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review,
46(1), 53–62.
Iqbal, S., Majoka, M. I., & Naz, S. (2023). Effectiveness of early childhood teachers’ pre-service
training regarding social and emotional development among children: An analysis of preservice teacher competencies. Journal of Education and Social Sciences Review (JESSR),
3(1), 171–182. doi.org
Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits self-esteem,
generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability with job satisfaction and
job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80–92.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80
Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction:
A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 530–541.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.530
Kahn, S., & Revan, M. (2023). Effects of neuroticism on differences in symptom structure of life
satisfaction and depression-anxiety among college students: A network analysis. Frontiers in
Psychology, 13(8), Article 372588305.
Kern, M. L., Waters, L. E., Adler, A., & White, M. A. (2014). A multidimensional approach to
measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. The Journal of
Positive Psychology, 10(3), 262–271.
Khan, H., & Riaz, A. (2025). Capturing behavioral interdependencies in professional educational
settings: A correlational study. Higher Education Quarterly, 79(1), 15–32.
Lounsbury, J. W., Loveland, J. M., Sundstrom, E. D., Gibson, L. W., Droege, A. M., & Hamrick, F.
L. (2003). An investigation of Big Five personality traits and academic dominant stimuli in
relation to the academic performance of college students. Journal of College Student
Development, 44(4), 528–537.
Malik, S. Z. (2015). Relationship of transformational leadership, psychological well-being and selfefficacy: A mediation. Journal of Quality and Technology Management, 11(2), 93–112. Cited
by: 13
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal. American
Psychologist, 52(5), 509–516. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.5.509
McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2015). Organizational behavior: Emerging knowledge and
practice for the real world (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Miller, A., & Aziz, S. (2024). Investigating the factors influencing faculty job satisfaction in Pakistani
universities. Remittances Review, 9(3), 223–244. https://doi.org/10.387522650
Nasir, F., & Iqbal, S. (2024). Psychological flourishing in high-demand sectors: A study of public
education practitioners. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 39(2), 201–218.
Nawaz, R., & Rashid, M. (2026). Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Organizational
Commitment: Job Satisfaction as a Moderator. Social Science Review Archives, 6(2), 115–
134.
Nawaz, R., & Rashid, M. (2026). Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Organizational
Commitment: Job Satisfaction as a Moderator. Social Science Review Archives, 4(2), 1066–
1076. https://doi.org/10.70670/sra.v4i2.2178
Naz, S., Khan, M. I., & Nawaz, N. (2025). Challenges to women academics’ leadership roles in higher
education management positions. SSRN Electronic Journal, 12(4), 1–12.
Qayyum, A. & Naz, S. (2026). Predicting job satisfaction through personality and psychological
well-being in higher education. ResearchGate Development Papers, 1–15.
Qureshi, M. S., Khan, O., & Shah, S. A. (2024). Personality traits as predictors of psychological
adjustment and workplace resilience among university faculty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 39(2), 241–258.
https://doi.org/10.33820/pjpr.2024.39.2.14
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological
well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach
to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 13–39.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9019-0
Sadaf, A., & Bashir, T. (2025). Navigating the stress: Well-being dimensions in public sector
universities of Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Management, 39(2), 45–63.
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with
burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3),
293–315.
Sutin, A. R., Costa, P. T., Miech, R., & Eaton, W. W. (2010). Personality and career success:
Concurrent and longitudinal evidence. European Journal of Personality, 23(2), 71–84.
Tuckman, B. W., & Williams, J. M. (2011). The role of teacher autonomy and emotional intelligence
in teacher job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 778–785.
Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., & Lens, W. (2010). Capturing autonomy,
competence, and relatedness at work: Construction and initial validation of the Work-related
Basic Need Satisfaction scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(3), 233–244.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.04.002
Vansteenkiste, M., Neyrinck, B., Niemiec, C. P., Soenens, B., De Witte, H., & Van den Broeck, A.
(2007). On the relations among work value orientations, psychological need satisfaction and
job outcomes: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 80(2), 251–277.
Yousaf, S. (2019). Dissection of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to Predict Job Satisfaction: Empirical
Evidence from the Telecommunication Industry of Pakistan. Lahore Journal of Business, 8(2),
85–128. https://doi.org/10.35536/ljb.2019.v8.v2.a4 Cited by: 123
Zaman, K., & Ali, S. (2025). Faculty autonomy and research innovation: A path to institutional
sustainability. Higher Education Policy, 38(4), 567–589.
Zhang, M., & Gandham, G. (2025). Faculty job satisfaction in higher education: A systematic review
of empirical studies through Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Journal of Management World,
6(4), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.53935/jomw.v2024i4.1222
Zheng, L., Goldberg, L. R., Zheng, Y., Zhao, Y., Tang, Y., & Liu, L. (2008). Reliability and
concurrent validation of the IPIP Big-Five factor markers in China: Consistencies in factor
structure between Internet-obtained heterosexual and homosexual samples. Personality and
Individual Differences, 45(7), 649–654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.009
DOI: 10.52279/jlss.08.02.195207 | 195-207 | PDF
Journal of Law and Social Studies (JLSS) is proudly powered by WordPress
