Personality Traits and Work Performance of Teachers in Universities in China

Abstract

Against the background of building a strong education nation in the new era, the core of higher education lies in the construction of the teaching workforce and the continuous improvement of teachers' work performance. As an important force in regional economic and social development, application-oriented universities have teacher groups whose relationships between personality traits and performance possess uniqueness and practical value. Therefore, exploring the mechanism among personality traits, sense of belonging, and teacher performance is of key significance for promoting faculty development and optimizing university personnel systems. This study aims to explore how the Big Five personality traits (BFPT) influence the work performance of teachers in application-oriented universities and to further establish the mediating role played by the sense of belonging. The specific research objectives include RO1: examining the direct relationship between the BFPT -Extraversion (ER), Agreeableness (AN), Conscientiousness (CT), Neuroticism (NT), and Openness (ON) and teachers’ work performance; RO2: identifying the mediating effect of sense of belonging in the relationship between the BFPT and work performance. Based on the theoretical framework of personality psychology and organizational behavior, this study used purposive sampling to survey 371 application-oriented university teachers in Southwest China and conducted empirical research analysis using PLS-SEM. The results showed that ER, AN, CT, and ON were significantly positively correlated with teachers’ work performance, while NT had no significant relationship with performance. In addition, the sense of belonging showed a mediating effect in all the above significant paths, indicating that teachers’ sense of belonging to the organization is a key psychological mechanism linking their personality traits and work performance. The limitations of this study lie in the use of cross-sectional data, which failed to reveal the temporal causal relationships among variables, and the concentration of samples in Southwest China, which limits regional representativeness. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in integrating personality traits with organizational psychological variables, constructing a personality–sense of belonging–performance impact mechanism, and providing a new explanatory path for research on university teachers’ performance. Its practical implication lies in providing decision-making references for university personnel system reform and teacher career development. Additionally, this study offers a theoretical foundation for future cross-regional comparative studies and the development of personalized management strategies. This study also includes recommendations for future research.