PERSONALITY TRAITS, LOCUS OF CONTROL, OPENESS TO SUCCESS, ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AND MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED BULLYING ON QUALITY OF WORK-LIFE AMONG EMPLOYEES OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING ORGANISATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Quality of work-life are workplace conditions associated with job security and reward to sustain and
motivate employees. Literature confirms that employees’ quality of work-life can be influenced by
dispositional factors such as personality, locus of control and achievement motivation, and contextual
factors such as perceived organisational support and role ambiguity, and perceived bullying. Although
these factors have been previously studied, they were not collectively examined, neither were they
focused on employees in the manufacturing sector of Nigeria. This study therefore, was designed to
examine how dispositional and contextual factors were mediated by perceived bullying, and the outcome
on quality of work-life among employees of selected manufacturing companies in the Southwest, Nigeria.
The Human Needs, Humanisation of Work and Motivation theories guided the study. The ex-post facto
design was adopted, while the multi-stage sampling method was used. Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun states
were purposively selected being the commercial hub of business in the Southwest, Nigeria. Stratified
random sampling technique was used to select ten Fast-Moving Consumer Goods companies from the
manufacturing sector that produces household items: Ogun (3); Oyo (3) and Lagos (6). The convenient
sampling technique was used to select 572 participants across the three states, Ogun (152); Oyo (170);
and Lagos (250). Instruments used for data collection include: Negative Act Questionnaire-Revised
(α=.90), Big Five Inventory (α=.77), Role Ambiguity Scale (α=.90), Achievement Motivation Scale (α=.68),
Locus of Control Scale (α=.76), Quality of Work-Life Scale (α=.70), and Perceived Organisational Support
Scale (α=.76). Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses at α=0.05.
Respondents’ age was 35±8.31 years and males were 65.0%. Dispositional factors significantly jointly
predicted quality of work-life (R 2 =.051, F(8;532)=3.555); personality factors (extraversion, neuroticism,
conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness (R 2 =0.036); achievement motivation (motivation for
achievement, and personal success (R 2 = 0.051); locus of control (R 2 = 0.051). Conscientiousness
personality (β=.099), and personal success dimension of achievement motivation (β=.124) significantly
independently contributed more to quality of work-life. Dispositional factors significantly jointly predicted
perceived bullying (R 2 =.269, F(8;538)= 24.719). Contextual factors significantly jointly predicted perceived
bullying (R 2 =.261, F(2;551)= 97.451). Perceived bullying significantly mediated the paths from personality
factors, achievement motivation, and locus of control to quality of work-life.
Personality factors and achievement motivation were important determinants of quality of work-life among
employees of manufacturing companies in Southwest Nigeria. Manufacturing organisations should
provide adequate organisational support through dispositional factors to improve quality of work-life and
performance.
Keywords: Quality of work-life, Perceived bullying, Locus of control,
Manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria