Big Five Personality Traits and Performance Among Cybersecurity Analysts
APA Citation
Schultz, M. & Ibrahim, K. (2024). Big Five Personality Traits and Performance Among Cybersecurity Analysts. *Personnel Psychology*. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12598
View original paper →What Did This Cybersecurity Research Find?
This cybersecurity personnel selection study measured Big Five personality traits in 480 security analysts and correlated them with supervisor-rated performance. Cybersecurity analyst performance was most strongly predicted by conscientiousness and openness to experience, while agreeableness showed no significant relationship with security-specific job performance.
Key Findings
- 1Conscientiousness was the strongest personality predictor of analyst performance (r = 0.34)
- 2Openness to experience predicted performance on novel threat analysis tasks (r = 0.28)
- 3Neuroticism negatively predicted performance under time pressure during incident response
- 4Agreeableness showed no significant correlation with cybersecurity-specific performance
- 5Personality traits predicted performance above and beyond technical skill assessments
How Does This Apply to Cybersecurity Careers?
Hiring managers can refine assessment criteria for analyst selection. Professionals can understand which personality traits align with cybersecurity work demands.
Who Should Read This?
Frequently Asked Questions
What did this cybersecurity research find?
This cybersecurity personnel selection study measured Big Five personality traits in 480 security analysts and correlated them with supervisor-rated performance. Cybersecurity analyst performance was most strongly predicted by conscientiousness and openness to experience, while agreeableness showed no significant relationship with security-specific job performance.
How is this research relevant to cybersecurity careers?
Hiring managers can refine assessment criteria for analyst selection. Professionals can understand which personality traits align with cybersecurity work demands.
Where was this cybersecurity research published?
This study was published in Personnel Psychology in 2024. The DOI is 10.1111/peps.12598. Access the original paper through the publisher link above.
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