Chia-Huei Wu

Can your job change your personality? While traditionally personality has been considered fixed and stable, recent thinking indicates that this is not the case. Personality can be changed by various work and vocational experiences, such as employment conditions, career roles, job characteristics and training or interventions. Drawing on a wide array of research in the field, Wang and Wu provide a conceptual overview on how personality can be changed at work by societal, organisational and job-related factors, while considering how individuals can take an active approach in changing their personality at work.

What makes some people more likely to initiate positive change within their organizations? Can this behaviour be influenced by management? Employee proactivity has largely been understood in terms of employees changing their environment or changing themselves. In this novel study Wu offers an alternative lens through which to examine such behaviour – the concept of attachment theory. Wu integrates the current understanding of motivational factors in shaping proactive workers, through his introduction to attachment theory, and development of it as a theoretical framework. This compelling approach provides academics with a new way of thinking about employee behaviour while also acting as a guide for practitioners and managers.