Big five personality influences trajectories of information seeking behavior

This article reports results of a study observing how big-five personality traits influence the trajectories of information-seeking adaptive behaviors among university freshmen. Data are collected from 409 freshmen at a Chinese university at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months after university enrollment. A latent growth mixture model is applied to reveal four trajectories of information-seeking behaviors: high or low maintaining, downward or upward. When the information-seeking trajectories are related to personality traits, openness and agreeableness are associated with high maintaining, while agreeableness is associated with downward trajectories. The study provides strong empirical evidence supporting the Minnesota theory of work adjustment and provides important insights to practitioners who want to enhance newcomer adjustment at all organizations.