Social investment in work reliably predicts change in conscientiousness and agreeableness: A direct replication and extension of Hudson, Roberts, and Lodi-Smith (2012)

• This project closely replicated Hudson et al. (2012).
• Superior sample sizes and statistical analyses were used.
• Hudson et al.’s (2012) findings largely replicated in this new sample.
• Social investment at work predicted changes in conscientiousness and agreeableness.

The present study was a close replication of Hudson, Roberts, and Lodi-Smith (2012). Participants’ personality traits and social investment in work were measured twice over three years. Latent change models were used to examine the associations among the intercepts (levels) and slopes (changes) for these variables. Results revealed that levels of all of the big five traits except openness were generally related to levels of social investment at work. Longitudinally, changes in social investment in work were generally associated with simultaneously co-occurring changes in only conscientiousness and agreeableness. Age did not moderate these correlated changes. Overall, the results directly replicated those of Hudson et al. (2012) and suggest that personality traits develop in concert with job experiences.