The interactive role of negative affectivity and job characteristics: Are high-NA employees destined to be unhappy at work?

The present study examined whether employees high in negative affectivity ( NA) are destined to be unhappy at work. Managerial employees provided infor mation regarding perceptions of job characteristics, negative affectivity ( NA), job satisfaction, and intentions to turnover. Using hierarchical regre ssion, our findings suggest that employees who reported being high NA were more reactive to the environmental cues of perceived job scope. Specificall y, NA interacted with job scope such that individuals high in NA who percei ved their jobs as being higher (lower) in scope reported more (less) job sa tisfaction than did individuals low in NA. Implications for organizations a nd future research directions are discussed.