What a nuisance: Controlling for negative affectivity versus personality in hospitality stress research

One stream of dispositional stress research examines the role negative affectivity (NA) plays in the stressor–strain relationship, with most research showing NA is a nuisance factor – spuriously inflating stressor–strain associations. Personality is not unidimensional, though, and measuring a single construct may be inadequate. This study reexamines the impact NA has in the hospitality context, and the role played by NA when all five global dimensions of personality – the Big Five – are included. Variance reduction rates revealed that (a) NA is a “nuisance factor,” and (b) the Big Five have differential effects – either inflationary or deflationary – depending upon the stressor–strain relationship examined.