The interplay between extraversion, task significance, and task variety at work

Extraversion bears several advantages for employees at work such as increased job performance and organizational citizenship behavior. However, empirical research and theoretical perspectives suggest that contextual moderators may qualify the extent to which extraversion is beneficial at work. Here, we investigated whether task significance and task variety – two contextual variables that are congruent with extraversion's advantages – moderate extraversion-performance relations. Across two multi-source studies with employees, we found that task significance strengthened the positive relationships between extraversion with job performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Task variety did not moderate these extraversion-performance relationships. Moreover, the interaction between acquaintance ratings of extraversion and task significance also predicted organizational citizenship behavior. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications.