The moderating effects of accountability on the conscientiousness-performance relationship

The interaction of Conscientiousness and accountability was investigated in the context of performance outcomes using a cognitive performance task, an d this interaction was found to be statistically significant. In a laborato ry experiment with 95 student-participants, under conditions of accountabil ity, more conscientious individuals performed at higher levels than less co nscientious people in support of the hypothesis. Under conditions of no ext ernal accountability, the relationship between Conscientiousness and perfor mance was not significant. No main effects were found.