A Portrait of the Artist as an Employee: The Impact of Personality on Career

Satisfaction
Author(s): James M. Loveland, Katherine E. Loveland, John W. Lounsbury and Danilo C.
Dantas
Source: International Journal of Arts Management , FALL 2016, Vol. 19, No. 1 (FALL
2016), pp. 4-15
Published by: HEC - Montréal - Chair of Arts Management

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44989674

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 Human Resources Management

A Portrait of the Artist as an Employee:

The Impact of Personality on Career Satisfaction

James M. Loveland, Katherine E. Loveland, John W. Lounsbury, Danilo C. Dantas

human resources (HR) managers in particular,

An artist is not paid for his labor but for as the companies hiring these artists are now James M. Loveland
his vision. is Assistant Professor of
facing the daunting and novel challenge of select-
- James McNeill Whistler Marketing at Xavier University.
ing and retaining artists as employees. This situ-
He has a PhD in Marketing
ation creates challenges for both the artists and
from Arizona State University
the HR managers, who have little guidance con- and a PhD in Psychology
cerning how artists might be expected to interact from the University of
with the firm and with work itself. Tennessee. His research inter-

Although
Although visual research
visualartists, itresearch
devoted
artists, therebeen
has hasdevoted
it haspiecemeal been beentocharacteristics
to the and the characteristics
piecemeal considerable andof
of
While we know that some artists, such as danc- ests include brand communi-

ers, face considerable challenges transitioning to ties, career development

fragmented, and the career trajectories of artists,
other fields (Jeffri and Throsby 2006), the roles and luxury marketing.
especially in the role of company employees, have
of disposition and career satisfaction have been Katherine E. Loveland
been ignored (for an exception, see Jeffri and
under-researched for artists as a group. From the is Assistant Professor of
Throsby 2006). In part, this fragmentation orig-
manager s point of view, it is important to under- Marketing at Xavier University.
inates in the notion that artists are unique and
stand the link between personality and career She has a PhD in Marketing
different, and thus academic research and the
satisfaction among artists, as more satisfied from Arizona State University.
popular literature have been long interested in - or Her research interests include
employees tend to be more productive (Kelloway
perhaps biased towards - those personal factors nostalgia, atmospherics,
et al. 2010) and to enjoy longer tenure with a firm
or dispositional tendencies that are related to the (Hofstetter and Cohen 2014). From the artist s
consumer decision-making

"artistic temperament" often associated with visual and self-concept.

point of view, it is important to understand the
artists (e.g., Drevdahl and Cattell 1958). link because career satisfaction, apart from being John W. Lounsbury
Consequently, research in this domain has con- a valuable construct from a purely humanistic recently retired from his posi-

centrated on the case study approach, giving sig- perspective, is highly predictive of key outcomes
tion as Professor of Psychology

nificance to personality facets or flaws of famous at the University of Tennessee.

such as life satisfaction (Seibert and Kraimer
His research centred on the
(or infamous) artists based on their work or on 2001). At the same time, art is a field that seems
role of personality in various
their life outcomes. While this approach makes to engender a career path that places considerable aspects of intrinsic and extrin-
for interesting conversation, it does little to illu- value on developing authenticity as a milestone sic career success.
minate the life of artists from an overarching (Svejenova 2005); this is in stark contrast to many
Danilo C. Dantas
perspective, or to highlight the unique needs of career fields, where progression is measured by
is Associate Professor of
artists as employees. Historically, visual artists tenure, promotion, increased span of control or
Marketing at HEC Montreal and
have tended to be self-employed, while today a other organizationally centred outcomes. a member of Development
considerable number are working within firms Investigating the artistic personality from the of Music Audiences in Quebec
(Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014). This underscores vantage point of artists as employees presents a (DMAQ). His research focuses
a need for more focused research addressing this unique opportunity to make a substantive con- on the themes of music mar-

population along constructs of importance to tribution both to managerial practice and to our keting and online marketing.

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conceptual understanding of the management of
artists and their careers. We approach this chal-
lenge by addressing two overarching research ques-
tions: What traits are important for the career
satisfaction of artists ? What insights do these traits
provide about working as visual artists in North
America and what are the implications for HR man-
agers charged with the selection , retention and career
development of these artists ?
This article is organized as follows. First, we
discuss the literature on personality and different
career outcomes, such as job performance and
career satisfaction. Next, we discuss the linkages
between this literature and the nature of the work
performed by artists, focusing particularly on
creativity. Then, using 13 personality traits (and
career satisfaction) that are commonly used in
personnel selection settings, we investigate the
linkages between these personality traits and
career satisfaction among a sample of 566 artists
who participated in a career assessment program
offered by their respective firms. Previous research
has demonstrated that artists generally experience
higher levels of career satisfaction than typical
workers in other fields (Steiner and Schneider
2013), but has not investigated the specific per-
sonality profiles that might influence these levels
of satisfaction. Following regression analysis and
investigation of the correlations between 13 per-
sonality traits and career satisfaction, we discuss
the importance of the significant relationships,
providing preliminary guidance for HR managers
tasked with managing artists, as well as insights
into career development concerns for artists.
This article makes several important contribu-
tions to both academic research and managerial
practice. First and foremost, we provide a solid
empirical basis from which to investigate how artists
are different from their peers in other career fields
along traits that are managerially rather than clini-
cally focused. Furthermore, we demonstrate the
importance of assessing occupations by the com-
monalities in personality profiles, which furthers
our understanding of Person- Environment fit
(Holland 1996) and extends this model to the career
field domain. In addition, we show how personality
can translate into differences in the career satisfac-
tion of artists, which has implications for the recruit-
ment, selection and training of artists.
Artistic Tension in the Workplace
It ofofgoesartistic
artisticendeavour;
without one
endeavour;
cannot saying
discuss that
artistsone creativity cannot discuss is a hallmark artists
in an employment setting without mentioning the
nature of creativity in the workplace, along with
the tension that it could cause. Although it might
seem counterintuitive, there has been wide con-
sensus as to the nature of creativity, with scholars
arriving at essentially the same working definition
across the span of nearly 50 years (cf. Feist 1998;
Guilford 1950): creativity must both be new or
original (novel) and be useful (adaptive). Thus,
simply being significantly different from the norm
is not sufficient to be considered creative; an idea
or a work must also be useful to others in order to
represent creativity. For freelance art, the ways in
which something might be useful is much more
flexible and likely to vary greatly from project to
project, as artists are able to choose the projects
they work on and thus exert a significant level of
control over when and how they express their crea-
tivity. In a corporate setting, this is not as likely to
be the case, as usefulness will be constrained by
the organizational context, such as the type of
products or services the company produces or the
industry in which it operates. This need to be cre-
ative on demand, but to do so within a constrained
environment, in order to reach instrumental goals
is somewhat contradfctory to our cultural image

ABSTRACT

Although there is a long hist

tion along personality dimen
sonality on job and career s
vocational interests of those w
an analysis of personality and
settings. The personality tra
satisfaction. Other traits, suc
as well, though not as stron
managed. These implications

Career sa

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of the artist as a free spirit. The investigation of The importance of these relationships cannot
artists in the workforce thus offers a unique oppor- be overstated. As Holland (1996) notes, "people
tunity to better understand the combination of flourish in their work environment when there is
personality traits that allows individuals to suc- a good fit between their personality type and the
cessfully use their individual vision and artistic characteristics of the environment. Lack of con-
sense to meet organizational needs. gruence between personality and environment
leads to dissatisfaction" (p. 397). While there has
been some debate about the effectiveness of the
RIASEC (Personality-Environment, or P-E, fit)
Personality and Career Satisfaction model itself, the central tenet that individuals who
do not possess the right attributes will experience
The outcomes
outcomes
use of
in personality
a variety ofinfields
a variety
has been
in of predicting fields has career been more pressure and stress within the work setting,

largely supported by meta-analytic research pro-
viding evidence for the assertion that personality
dimensions predict intrinsic (job and career satis-
faction) and extrinsic (manager ratings) job suc-
cess. This meta-analytic research (cf. Judge, Heller
and Mount 2002; Judge et al. 2013) has also
shown that, across different career fields, the
validity coefficients support the widespread use
of personality measures for selection and retention
purposes, further advancing meta-analytic
research conducted a decade earlier (e.g., Barrick
and Mount 1991). These same studies uncovered
significant differences across career fields in terms
of the relationship between personality and career
success. Two important implications emerge from
this research stream: first, traits that are essential
to success in one field might not be predictive of
success in another; and second, because similar
resulting in dissatisfaction, has received strong
empirical support and has also served as the basis
for other models (cf. Schneider 1987; Schneider,
Goldstein and Smith 1995). This employee dis-
satisfaction can lead to undesirable outcomes such
as counterproductive behaviours (Kelloway et al.
2010) and staff turnover (Horn and Kinicki 2001).
Furthermore, artists have been shown to possess
traits associated with undesirable organizational
behaviours, such as low levels of conformity, self-
control, tolerance and personal warmth (Feist
1998), suggesting that the poor P-E fit of artists
working within firms could lead to particularly
negative outcomes. However, the work on P-E
fit has tended to focus on the individual in a career
field based on interests and basic dispositional
factors, rather than on groups of people working
across different firms in the same field. We extend

career fields share similar personality/outcome
relationships, occupations are shaped and defined
by the characteristics that are shared across dif-
ferent work settings. Thus, identifying key per-
sonality dimensions that are related to intrinsic
career success in a given field provides insights
into what demands are being placed upon
its members and how managers can adapt to
these relationships.
the reasoning suggested by P-E fit, as well as the
logic of individual fit with organizations suggested
by Schneider (1987), to argue that enduring dis-
positional factors (i.e., personality traits) will shape
overall career satisfaction. Thus, the trait/satisfac-
tion relationship reveals commonalities that will
not change across work settings - this presents
real and usable guidance for managers who wish
to hire and manage artists.

RFS1JMF

Des re
qui con
de la p
ristiqu
combl
et la s
travai
stabili
impor
de cet
Ces im
dans cet article.

Satisfac

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 There are managerial activities that can mini-
mize negative outcomes due to poor P-E fit. For
example, firms can mitigate variability in job
performance by creating rigid work environments
or by focusing on improving elements of the
work environment that are not conducive to a
positive employee disposition (Keller and Semmer
2013). In short, careful design of the work envi-
ronment can diminish some of the effects of
personality in the workplace. However, because
personality and interests are very important in
vocational decision-making and tend to be rela-
tively stable over time (Low et al. 2005; Lubiński,
Benbow and Ryan 1995), selection and career-
development activities that consider personality
are an important means of improving work out-
comes for both the firm and the individual, and
even reducing negative work outcomes (MacLane
and Walmsley 2010).
Method
Overview
Agreeableness and Emotional Stability - have
been validated in a variety of contexts, with
decades of meta-analytic research supporting their
continued use in personnel selection (cf. Barrick
and Mount 1991; Judge, Heller and Mount 2002).
These broad categories of traits, while highly effec-
tive, do not always provide a complete picture of
the individual. Therefore, many researchers have
advocated the use of so-called narrow traits. These
traits, such as Work Drive and Customer Service
Orientation, tend to be focused on dispositions
within particular contexts and have been shown
to add incremental predictive value above and
beyond the Big Five (e.g., Ashton 1998; Dudley
et al. 2006; Lounsbury et al. 2002). The inventory
used to assess these traits (the PSI) has been
administered, for a variety of purposes, to over
six million individuals in a wide range of jobs and
organizational settings (Lounsbury and Gibson
2013) and has been widely used in both academic
and professional settings (e.g., Lounsbury and
Gibson 2013; Loveland, Lounsbury et al. 2015;
Loveland, Thompson et al. 2015).

The career development firm eCareerFit.com Participants

provided the data used in this study. The data
The sample comprised 566 visual artists who
were gathered for organizational decision-making
completed the PSI as part of ongoing career
purposes in the arenas of recruitment, pre-employ-
development at their firms. Of the participants,
ment testing, succession planning, leadership
246 (43.5%) were male and 320 (56.5%) female.
development, and ongoing coaching and mentor-
In terms of age, 6 (1%) were under age 20; 84
ing. All participants completed the personality
(14.9%) between 20 and 30; 194 (34.3%)
inventory on a voluntary basis for the purpose of
between 31 and 40; 166 (29.4%) between 41
self-knowledge and career planning, with the
assessments paid for by their employers. and 50; 103 (18.2%) between 51 and 60; 14
Participants were free to use either their own name (2.5%) between 61 and 70; and 1 was over the
or a pseudonym. The personality instrument used age of 70. Of these individuals, 94 (16.6%)
was the Personal Style Inventory (PSI), a work- worked in the communications industry, 165
based measure that includes the Big Five personal- (29.2%) in entertainment and 103 (18.2%) in
ity markers along with eight narrow personality publishing, while 57 (10.0%) were freelance
traits. The Big Five personality traits - Openness artists and the remaining 147 (26.0%) worked
to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, in various other industries.

RESUMEN

Aunque se cuento con una larga historia

población en general en lo que se refier
sobre el impacto de la personalidad mis
concentrado sobre los atributos relacion
carrera artística. Para llenar este vacío
carrera con un muestreo de 566 artista
optimismo y estabilidad emocional se co
rísticas, como disposición a trabajar en eq
correlación. Los autores presentan los r
y sugieren orientaciones para futuras inv

Satisfacción con l

VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 • FALL 2016 j 7 j

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Personality Factors
The PSI has been used in a variety of settings
internationally, mainly for career development
and pre-employment screening purposes
(Lounsbury and Gibson 2013). Following are
brief descriptions of the personality measures used
in the present study (along with Cronbach s a).
Assertiveness: disposition to speak up on matters
of importance, express ideas and opinions confi-
dently, defend personal beliefs, use initiative, and
exert influence in a forthright but non- aggressive
manner (Cronbach s a = .83). Conscientiousness:
dependability, reliability, trustworthiness, and
inclination to adhere to company norms, rules
and values (Cronbach s a = .74). Customer Service
Orientation: striving to provide highly responsive,
personalized, quality service to (internal and exter-
nal) customers; putting the customer first; and
trying to satisfy the customer, even if it means
going above and beyond the job description or
policy (Cronbach s a = .69). Emotional Stability:
overall high level of adjustment and emotional
resilience in the face of job stress and pressure
(Cronbach s a = .81). Extraversion: tendency to
be sociable, outgoing, gregarious, expressive,
warm-hearted and talkative (Cronbach s a = .83).
Image Management: disposition to regulate and
control self-presentation and image projected dur-
ing- interactions (Cronbach s a = .82). Intrinsic
Motivation: tendency to be motivated by the chal-
lenge, meaning and significance of work
(Cronbach s a = .82). Openness: receptivity to
change, innovation, novel experience and new
learning (Cronbach s a = .78). Optimism: an
upbeat, hopeful outlook on situations, people,
prospects and the future, even in the face of dif-
ficulty and adversity; a tendency to minimize
problems and persist in the face of setbacks
(Cronbach s a = .85). Teamwork Orientation: pro-
pensity for working as part of a team and func-
tioning cooperatively on group efforts
(Cronbach s OL = .83). Tough-Mindedness: tendency
to make work decisions based on logic rather than
on feelings or emotions. Work Drive: disposition
to work long hours (including overtime) and to
keep an irregular schedule, investing high levels
of time and energy into job and career; motivated
to extend oneself, if necessary, to finish projects,
meet deadlines, be productive and achieve job
success (Cronbach s OL = .81). Visionary Thinking:
a personal style that emphasizes an organizational
vision and mission, development of corporate
strategy, identification of long-term goals and
planning for future contingencies (Cronbach s a
= .88). Career satisfaction was measured using a
single-item global scale; respondents were asked
to evaluate their overall satisfaction with their
g INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS MANAGEMENT
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career as a whole (Judge et al. 1995). Focusing on
overall career satisfaction is also a means of pre-
venting the assessment of satisfaction from being
unduly influenced by transient, job-specific issues,
such as an unpleasant manager or difficult work-
ing conditions, and is a more stable measure in
relation to personality traits. Career satisfaction
was assessed using a single-item measure of global
career satisfaction, for which there are no reliability
statistics. However, research has demonstrated
that global indices of satisfaction can be more
valid than facet-based measures (Nagy 2002;
Scarpello and Campbell 1983).
Results
Data regression wereapproach,
regression assessed which
approach, using which a forward-selection is appropriate
is appropriate
when there are no strong theoretical reasons for
entering variables in a specific order. This approach
also prioritizes the variable with the strongest
correlation, followed by those with the strongest
partial correlation coefficients. We chose career
satisfaction as the focal dependent variable,
because this is considered more important from
a humanistic perspective and because it is a more
global assessment of the individuals collective
work experiences. Regression results generated a
multiple correlation of R = .470 (p < .01), F(6,
559) = 26.395, MSE = 1.16, p < .01, with the
variables of Optimism (ß = .350, t(560) = 4.492,
p < .01), Teamwork Orientation (ß = .261, t(560)
= 4.215, p < .01), Work Drive (ß = .290, t(560) =
4.747, p < .01), Assertiveness (ß = -.168, t(560) =
-2.726, p < .01), Emotional Stability (ß = .253,
t(560) = 3.069, p < .01) and Openness (ß = .350,
t(560) = -2.144, p < .05). These results are reported
in Table 1. We further investigated the correlations
for each of the study variables with career satisfac-
tion. These results, along with means and standard
deviations for all study variables, are included in
Table 1 as well. The correlations for the study
variables ranged from high levels for Optimism
(r= .388, />< .01) and Emotional Stability (r = .353,
p < .01), more moderate levels for Teamwork
Orientation (r= .271, p< .01), Work Drive (r= .213,
p < .01), Customer Orientation (r = .183, p < .01),
Conscientiousness (r = AA',p< .01) and Extraversion
(r = .155, p < .01), to low but still statistically
significant levels for Assertiveness (r = .102, p < .01),
Openness (r= .088, />< .01) and Image Management
(r = -.069, p < .01). Tough-Mindedness, Visionary
Thinkingznà Intrinsic Motivation did not produce
significant correlations with career satisfaction.
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 TABLE 1

MEANS, CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS (ß) FOR ARTISTS

Means Correlations

Dimension M SD Career Satisfaction ß

Asserti veness 3.43 .85 .102* -.168

Conscientiousness 3.18 .72 .141* NS

Customer Orientation 4.07 .68 .183* NS

Emotional Stability 3.28 .77 .353* .253

Extraversion 3.71 .80 .155* NS

Image Management 2.62 .81 -.069 NS

Intrinsic Motivation 3.72 .75 .001 NS

Openness 3.75 .73 .088* -.169

Optimism 3.68 .86 .388* .350

Teamwork Orientation 3.33 .80 .271* .261

Tough-Mindedness 2.84 .74 .033 NS

Visionary Style 3.22 .74 .013 NS

Work Drive 3.27 .81 .213* .290

Career Satisfaction 3.36 1.21

* p < .05

Discussion optimistic can also better handle negative feedback

The connections results
connections of between
between this study
the personality the indicate personality multiple traits
traits
of artists and career satisfaction. In this sense,
the contribution of the study is twofold. First,
regarding the arts management literature, the
study represents the first attempt to measure the
impact of personality traits of artists, as employ-
ees, on career satisfaction using a quantitative
approach. Second, from a managerial point of
view, we propose a broader understanding of artist
management by showing which personality traits
have a significant influence on job outcomes. By
specifying the personality traits that lead to greater
career satisfaction among artists, we aim to help
managers of artists better understand, and thus
manage, the challenges faced by visual artists who
create in service to organizational goals.
More precisely, among the respondents,
Optimism was the trait most highly correlated
with career satisfaction. An obvious explanation
for this finding is that artists have some degree of
anticipation of a positive outcome for their work,
whether it is personal satisfaction or financial
success in the marketplace. Artists who are more
about their work, because they view such an out-
come as impersonal and transitory, not personal
or permanent (Seligman 1990). Similarly, with
their more positive cognitive set, more optimistic
artists are better equipped to handle job setbacks
and persevere in the face of adversity than their
more pessimistic peers. Over time, such factors
will lead to higher levels of career satisfaction.
An important implication of this finding is that
managers of artists should be vigilant to ensure
that their more optimistic artistic employees do
not take on projects that are simply too expansive
or that are unfeasible, as they could easily over-
estimate their ability to complete projects
(McNulty and Finchman 2012). The centrality
of optimism becomes especially problematic for
managers when we consider that research has
shown that artists, compared to non-artists, are
lower in emotional stability (Feist 1998). This is
likely driven by the nature of their work, as sen-
sitivity towards potential threats and a focus on
internal states are important aspects of working
creatively. Thus, artists are more likely to be sensi-
tive to the failures that arise from their willingness
to attempt too much. The combination of higher

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optimism and lower emotional stability will bring
unique challenges for both the manager and the
visual artist employed by the firm. Consequently,
managers should be circumspect in allowing art-
ists too much latitude, and perhaps provide spe-
cific "checkpoints" to ensure that artists' goals
are realistic and achievable.
The findings for Emotional Stability are con-
sistent with findings in other professions - those
artists who are more stable and well adjusted are
better able to handle stress on the job (and in
their personal lives), which is an inherent char-
acteristic of most artist jobs (Kirchner 2011;
Kirschbaum 2007; Wills and Cooper 1984). The
types of stressor facing artists are often of high
magnitude and persist throughout their careers.
They include pressure for financial success, heavy
competition from other artists, lack of venues
for showcasing their work, and lack of public
understanding of and appreciation for their cre-
ations (Watts 2013). Other types of pressure that
artists generally have to contend with include
social isolation, continual demands for original-
ity, unresolved personal issues, structural changes
in their artistic field (Kirschbaum 2007), and
reductions in funding for arts and culture
(National Endowment for the Arts [NEA] 2012).
A general lack of access to counselling and mental
health resources (Grant 2010) contributes to the
stress most artists face and favours artists who
are more emotionally resilient. Making matters
worse, the levels of emotional stability found in
the present study tend to be lower than those
seen within broader employment samples using
a similar metric (cf. Lounsbury and Gibson 2013;
Loveland, Thompson et al. 2015). However, as
Feist (1998) reports, the gap between artists and
non-artists does seem to be shrinking - perhaps
as more visual artists work within corporate
settings, artists, the educational setting and the
workplace are slowly adapting together to the
new relationship.
Artists are widely regarded as being more
introverted than extraverted. Indeed, several
studies (cf. Feist 1998) have shown that artists
are more introverted than those in other occupa-
tions. However, the present results indicate that
more extraverted artists are more satisfied with
their careers, which likely reflects the psychologi-
cal benefits of being more sociable and affiliative,
such as feeling less isolated and lonely, having
more friendships and acquaintanceships with
other artists and others within the organizational
hierarchy, and experiencing reduced anxiety
through personal interaction and relationships.
There are several organizational implications of
the present findings concerning extraversion.
First, all other factors being relatively equal,
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companies may want to recruit and hire indi-
viduals for artistic jobs who have higher levels
of extraversion. Second, those parties involved
in career planning and development should be
aware that extraversion is positively related to
career satisfaction and, at the very least, inform
individuals seeking vocational guidance in the
arts about the importance of building and main-
taining interpersonal relationships in order to
increase satisfaction. Third, since extraversion
is related to higher levels of career satisfaction,
employers could offer employees working as
artists more opportunities to talk, fraternize and
personally interact with each other (and other
employees) through company-sponsored social
events, recreational groups, outings, luncheons,
discussion groups, and other activities that facili-
tate social interaction, organizational connection
and extraversion-related behaviours. Indeed, it
may be that one reason why extraverted artists
find higher career satisfaction is that the affili-
ative nature of extraversion allows them to per-
ceive greater overlap between their own artistic/
career goals and the goals of the organization.
There are similar implications regarding the
finding of a positive relationship between
Teamwork Orientation and the career satisfaction
of artists. Artists typically work on their own as
individual contributors and tend to be less social,
communal and collaborative (Feist 1998). Yet
those artists who are inclined towards teamwork
and working cooperatively are more satisfied
with their careers. This aligns well with the cur-
rent trend towards working in teams - teamwork
is becoming a nearly universal fixture in the
modern organizational workplace. However,
team efforts could be derailed if care is not taken
to understand the different types of motivation
that members of the team bring to it, especially
the extent to which artists might be focused
more on tasks than on the prosocial aspects
needed for successful teamwork. Managers
should make sure that artists in a team context
do not allow their focus on individual work to
undermine their contribution to cooperative,
interdependent efforts. In addition, artists work-
ing in an organization should be given oppor-
tunities to work on team projects and to become
members of cross-functional and interdisciplinary
teams. Similarly, all other factors being equal
(including abilities and prior work history), those
hired for art positions should be team-oriented
and have a demonstrated ability to work co-
operatively and supportively with other employ-
ees. This will lead to more satisfied, and thus
more assiduous, employees in the long term.
The positive finding for Customer Service
Orientation is consistent with an increasing
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emphasis, in the art world, on adopting a strong rules and values, something that may not come
commitment to customer service. This, again, naturally to all artists but that does lead to higher
is consistent with the idea that, in order to achieve career satisfaction, as it demonstrates a willing-
career success, artists must not focus solely on ness to allow one s artistic vision to be shaped by
their internal vision but incorporate their vision organizational needs and values.
with the needs of their customer, at both the Because working artists must simultaneously
organizational level and the consumer level. This tap into their creativity, which is often deeply
is particularly true for artists who interact directly personal, and meet organizational goals, the
with customers or who have a direct hand in ability to diplomatically straddle the boundary
producing customer experiences (Kubacki 2008). between the personal and the public is an impor-
The importance of customer service orientation tant skill for career satisfaction. The personality
as a valued attribute of artists is likely to increase traits of Assertiveness and Image Management
in the future given the multiple internal custom- both tap into this skill. For example, because
ers that artists working in companies must serve, much of the work done by artists is high in
such as marketing and sales personnel, and the autonomy, in order to ensure that their voice is
push for ever-increasing integration of artistic heard and their creative vision is understood by
work with other organizational functions. stakeholders, organizations should engage artists
The remaining variables that we found to be who are comfortable being assertive. Specifically,
positively related to career satisfaction among to experience higher levels of career satisfaction
artists - Conscientiousness, Work Drive, artists should be capable of speaking up on mat-
Assertiveness, Openness and Image Management ters of importance, expressing their ideas and
- have a lesser but still important impact on opinions confidently, and exerting influence in
career satisfaction. The main factors accounting a forthright but non-aggressive manner. When
for higher career satisfaction among artists, com- working with artists, HR managers should also
pared to the general working population, in recent build environments in which a free and open
work by Steiner and Schneider (2013) - namely exchange of ideas is encouraged and reinforced,
job variety and on-the-job learning and autonomy which is consistent with the creative and autono-
- can be directly related to the relationships we mous nature of most artistic work. At the same
found between career satisfaction and the vari- time, a willingness to engage in image manage-
ables of work drive, assertiveness and openness. ment is also important, in order to minimize
For example, because artists generally experience any organizational resistance to artistic work,
greater on-the-job autonomy than their counter- which is often done in isolation and is inevitably
parts in other fields (Steiner and Schneider 2013), a reflection of the artist s vision. Indeed, a dis-
it is unsurprising that higher career satisfaction position to regulate and control self-presentation
among artists is associated with higher work drive during interactions is likely to result in higher
and conscientiousness. Work drive entails the acceptance of ones work, with less conflict,
motivation to work long, irregular hours and to resulting in higher career satisfaction.
extend oneself, if necessary, to finish projects and The final personality trait that we found to be
meet deadlines, characteristics that are necessary positively correlated with career satisfaction among
for success in situations high in autonomy. Given artists - Openness - has clear implications for
the relatively autonomous nature of most artistic two of the characteristics that Steiner and
work, and the correlation we found between work Schneider (2013) found to be drivers of high levels
drive and career satisfaction among artists, HR of job satisfaction among artists: job variety and
managers would be well advised to engage artists on-the-job learning. Because artists enjoy a high
who are high in work drive. If organizations level of variety, and consequently learning, on the
engage artists who are lower in work drive, strate- job, our finding that openness to experience is
gies for maintaining productivity might include positively correlated with career satisfaction among
creating a more structured work environment artists is not surprising. We recommend that,
and imposing intermediate, shorter deadlines. when engaging artists, HR managers hire indi-
Similarly, conscientiousness is associated with viduals who are relatively high in openness.
dependability, reliability and trustworthiness, Managing artists in such a way as to foster
traits that facilitate successful work habits in their creativity within the constraints of a cor-
autonomous work environments. Because artistic porate structure represents a somewhat contra-
work is rarely supervised closely, artists need to dictory set of goals. The arts are a competitive
be capable of regulating their own work behav- industry - there is intense competition not only
iours in order to create in a dependable and reli- for talent but also for customers and scarce fund-
able manner. Another aspect of conscientiousness ing. This complexity could easily undermine
is the inclination to adhere to company norms, the cogent analysis or measurement of the

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organizational effectiveness of an arts-related and conscientiousness, and comfortable connect-
organization (e.g., Turbide and Laurin 2009). ing and working with others, as expressed by the
This difficulty is amplified by the difficulties personality traits of extraversion, teamwork,
associated with managing the artistic talent customer orientation and openness. They should
within any organization. We contend that the also possess the emotional maturity and confi-
first step in making the task more tractable is to dence - as expressed by emotional stability,
understand what type of people are attracted to assertiveness, image management and optimism
working as artists and what type of career out- - necessary to bridge the gap between individual
comes they experience. creativity and organizational needs.

Managerial Implications Limitations and Suggestions for

Future Research
The outcomes,
outcomes,
relationship
such as such
performance
between and
as performance
satisfac- personality and and satisfac- career
tion, exists at an unusual intersection. On the one There could
couldareaffect
affecttheseveral the gathered
insights limitationsin insights
the to gathered this study in that the
hand, HR managers, many of whom use personal- work. First, the study centred on artists working
ity for selection purposes, are acutely aware of the in the visual arts and predominantly within organ-
value of personality as an instrument for gauging izations. Thus, it is not a foregone conclusion that
the potential effectiveness of employees. On the our implications would hold true for those in other
other hand, art as a field tends to be somewhat domains of art or for those not working within
insular and focused on development from the the confines of an organization. An interesting
perspective of talent, ability and performance. approach would be to investigate the importance
Ultimately, artists must display an ability to create of different personality factors and career satisfac-
- this is completely irrespective of personality or tion across different career domains of art, such
P- E fit, but is a very important component of as the performing arts or freelance practice.
career success, be it intrinsic or extrinsic. The However, given that more and more artists are
challenge is that of applying what HR knows to working in corporate settings, our results do high-
a distinct audience about which it knows very light the fact that managers likely face significant
little, for which talent and ability are often not challenges with this unique group. Second, our
trainable, and where many people believe that they data are cross-sectional in nature; it would be
have a true and unique calling to the profession interesting to know if there are changes across the
(cf. Dobrow and Tosti-Kharas 2011). career span of artists along these different traits.
Artists pose an interesting challenge to manag- Naturally, this would require the collection of
ers, as one of the major resources they bring to longitudinal data. Such data could provide insight
the workplace is their individual creativity, which, into how artists attempt to manage their careers
in order to form a mutually beneficial relation- and the effect of a corporate work setting on their
ship, must be directed towards the needs of the ultimate productivity as artists. Third, future
hiring organization. This challenge leads to both research could examine the criteria by which artists
benefits and costs from the point of view of the are evaluated. While job performance can be dif-
artist: the benefits of greater job variety, learning ficult to define in many professions, evaluating
and autonomy (Steiner and Schneider 2013), and job performance among visual artists is especially
the costs of lower-than-average income relative daunting. Such research would not only be useful
to education and lower job stability (Alper and in helping artists choose work settings that are
Wassail 2006; NEA 2008). Keeping in mind appropriate to their personal styles and preferences
both the benefits and the costs inherent to work- but also provide unique insights into how the
ing as an artist, our research suggests that HR corporate world is shaping the careers, and pot-
managers would be well advised to carefully entially the work, of artists. Finally, research on
consider the personalities of the artists they hire career satisfaction and intrinsic job success might
and devote managerial effort to the unique train- ignore other elements of how people assess their
ing and development needs of artists, rather than careers, with some researchers calling for a re-
taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Our findings conceptualization of the term "career success," to
suggest that artists are most likely to experience include other, more existential, elements of career
higher career satisfaction, and thus exhibit fewer (Heslin 2005). Thus, while this study has provided
intentions to quit and fewer counterproductive preliminary insights into how personality affects
behaviours, if they are both personally driven, as career satisfaction among visual artists, there is
expressed by the personality traits of work drive still considerable work to be done.

12 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS MANAGEMENT

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APPENDIX 1

LISTING AND DESCRIPTION OF TRAITS

Dimension Description

Agreeableness Propensity to work well in a team environment and to work cooperatively within
a work group (7 items)

Conscientiousness Tendency to be reliable, organized and rule-following (9 items)

Emotional Overall level of adjustment and emotional resilience in the face of job stress
Stability and pressure (6 items)

Extraversion Disposition to be sociable, gregarious, warm-hearted and talkative (7 items)

Openness Propensity to seek out change, innovation and new experiences (9 items)

Assertiveness Ability to assert oneself, take charge of situations, speak up on matters of

importance and defend personal beliefs (8 items)

Image Tendency to monitor, observe, regulate and control how one presents oneself
Management and to carefully regulate the image one projects in work interactions (6 items)

Intrinsic Disposition to be focused more on the pleasure associated with work itself than
Motivation on the financial rewards of work; interested in the challenge, meaning, autonomy,
variety and significance of work (6 items)

Optimism An upbeat and hopeful outlook concerning people, prospects and the future; tendency
to not focus on problems, even in the face of setbacks and adversity (6 items)

Tough- Tendency to appraise information and make work-related decisions based on logic,
Mindedness facts and data rather than on feelings, values or intuition (8 items)

(continued on next page )

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 LISTING AND DESCRIPTION OF TRAITS (continued)

Dimension Description

Work Drive Disposition to work long hours and to invest time and energy in job and career;
motivated to do whatever it takes to complete projects, meet deadlines and
achieve job success (8 items)

Visionary A style that emphasizes achieving an ambitious organizational vision and mission;
Thinking focused on developing a strong corporate strategy and planning for future
contingencies (8 items)

Customer Desire to provide personalized, responsive and high-calibre service to customers,

Orientation putting the customer first, wanting to keep customers satisfied - even if it means
going above and beyond normal job requirements (8 items)

Career Overall level of satisfaction with one's chosen career path (1 item)
Satisfaction

VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 • FALL 2016 15

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