PhD (4 years) position “RELATIONAL PERSONALITY AT WORK”

A full-time PhD position at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on relational personality at work.
Although people generally perceive themselves and others as having fairly consistent personality traits, research shows that there is a substantial amount of relationship variance in personality ratings. That is, people seem to vary in the way personality is perceived and/or expressed based on the nature of their unique dyadic relationships. Until now, the meaning of this relationship variance, its causes, and its consequences have remained elusive. Thus, the goal of this PhD thesis is to explore this relationship variance by investigating its consistency as well as its potential causes and consequences.
The relationship effect may be of particular importance for the work setting, having major implications for selection and assessment practices, employee relationships at work, leadership, and job performance ratings. For example, liking - which has a high level of relationship variance - has been shown to be strongly related to leadership ratings. Additionally, the nature of the relationship with the supervisor has been shown to account for a substantial amount of variance in job performance ratings. Thus, interpersonal interactions at work seem to result in unique dyadic relationships, which result in - for each relationship - unique ways of perceiving and expressing personality. These unique personality perceptions and expressions, in turn, may create strong disparities in the way people at work are assessed and treated. Finding out about the consistency, causes, and consequences of this 'relational personality at work' may consequently provide much-needed insight in - and possible remedies for the unwanted side-effects of - this relationship effect.
The project will use the Social Relations Model and the HEXACO model of personality to investigate the links between the different situations that people experience when with different co-workers (the potential causes of the relationship effect), the consequences of relational personality on the relationship variance in leadership and job performance, and the consistency of the relationship effect with respect to the unique dyadic expressions and perceptions of personality, leadership, and job performance. The project will use different research designs in experimental and field studies and it will require strong analytical, methodological, statistical, and writing skills.
The project will be supervised by Reinout de Vries and Bastian Jaeger, both from the section Organizational Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. For this project, we would like to fill a full-time 4-year PhD position at the nexus of personality, social, and organizational psychology. A strong background in statistics and methodology and an interest in personality, social, and/or organizational psychology is recommended. The PhD project is expected to result in a dissertation and one or more international peer-reviewed publications about relational personality at work. Research and conference travel expenses will be reimbursed. The PhD will join the Kurt Lewin Institute (KLI) and will be expected to follow PhD-courses at the KLI or at the VU to fulfil the VU graduate school criteria to obtain a PhD. Furthermore, the PhD is expected to supervise a few master- and bachelor-thesis students yearly and to assist in teaching and/or other departmental activities (e.g., organizing colloquia or department outings).

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

A challenging position in a socially involved organization. The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts €2.443 (PhD) per month during the first year and increases to €3,111 (PhD) per month during the fourth year, based on a full-time employment. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for 1 FTE. The intended starting date is September 2022 (with some flexibility).

The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended to a total duration of 4 years.
Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment, 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus, solid pension scheme (ABP), a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge, discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance).

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. We strive to be a university where personal development and commitment to society play a leading role. A university where people from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate to achieve innovations and to generate new knowledge. Our teaching and research encompass the entire spectrum of academic endeavor - from the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 30,000 students. We employ over 5,500 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible and located in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity
We are an inclusive university community. Diversity is one of our most important values. We believe that engaging in international activities and welcoming students and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds enhances the quality of our education and research. We are always looking for people who can enrich our world with their own unique perspectives and experiences.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
The Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences focuses on the broad domain of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society, from healthy aging to e-health, from juvenile crime to dealing with depression, from training for top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We are unique in that we combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education.

Working at Behavioural and Movement Sciences means working in an ambitious organization that is characterized by an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. Our faculty offers tremendous scope for personal development. We employ more than 600 staff members, and we are home to around 3,400 students.