Assessing the impact of dispositional resistance to change on organizational attraction

Span J Psychol. 2011 Nov;14(2):798-807. doi: 10.5209/rev_sjop.2011.v14.n2.27.

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing interest among researchers and practitioners to analyze what makes a firm attractive in the eyes of university students, and if individual differences such as personality traits have an impact on this general affect towards a particular organization. The main goal of the present research is to demonstrate that a recently conceptualized narrow trait of personality named dispositional resistance to change (RTC), that is, the inherent tendency of individuals to avoid and oppose changes (Oreg, 2003), can predict organizational attraction of university students to firms that are perceived as innovative or conservative. Three complementary studies were carried out using a total sample of 443 college students from Mexico. In addition to validating the hypotheses, our findings suggest that as the formation of the images of organizations in students' minds is done through social cognitions, simple stimuli such as physical artifacts, when used in an isolated manner, do not have a significant impact on organizational attraction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Career Choice*
  • Character*
  • Decision Making
  • Defense Mechanisms*
  • Emotions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Individuality
  • Job Application*
  • Male
  • Organizational Culture*
  • Organizational Innovation*
  • Organizational Objectives
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Personnel Selection*
  • Psychometrics
  • Students / psychology*
  • Young Adult