Knowledge Sharing and Personality

Previous studies that have investigated the relationship between personality and knowledge sharing behavior lack external validity. Inadequate diversity in subject samples fails to represent the levels of knowledge sharing across job sector. The goal of this research is to determine whether the findings from previous research concerning personality and knowledge sharing behavior generalize across job sectors in the U.S. workforce.        

This study will examine the association between the Big Five personality dimensions and the occurrence of knowledge sharing behavior across job sectors. The Big Five personality dimensions include Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness. Two categories of knowledge sharing will be investigated: knowledge sharing within one’s work group (intragroup sharing) and knowledge sharing with persons outside of one’s work group (external group sharing). One thousand Truman State University alumni will be invited to complete an online survey for this study. The survey will measure intragroup and external group knowledge sharing using a scale adapted from Cummings’ scale published in Management Science. The Big Five personality dimensions will be measured using a 10-item scale available from the International Personality Item Pool. The findings of this research will contribute to the available literature by supporting or not supporting the generalization of previous research findings on knowledge sharing and personality.