Influence of personality and risk propensity on risk perception of Chinese construction project managers

• We model the process of how construction project managers (CPMs) perceive risk.
• We explore whether CPMs of different personalities differ in ways perceiving risk.
• Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness influence risk propensity.
• Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness influence risk perception.
• Risk propensity plays fully a mediating role between personalities and perception.

Construction project managers (CPMs) with different types of personalities make various assessments in risky situations and draw up different risk management strategies. This research presents the findings of an empirical study in China that investigated whether and how CPMs with different personality traits differed in the way they perceived project risk. A conceptual model was developed and four hypotheses were proposed concerning the relationships among personality traits, risk propensity, and risk perception using the Big Five personality model. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling analyses of a sample of 152 imply that 1) Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness significantly influence risk propensity; 2) risk propensity negatively affects risk perception; 3) Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness have significant effects on risk perception; and 4) risk propensity fully mediates the relationship between personality traits and risk perception. The results were complemented by qualitative evidence from 5 semi-structured interviews with project managers. This research contributes to a better understanding of how CPMs perceive risk.