Correlates of Self-Rated Business Competencies

Abstract

Two studies that focussed on sex differences in self-rated management competencies are reported. In the first study 197 working adults (125 female, 72 male) rated themselves on the nine competencies listed by Boyaztis (1982). There were overall few significant sex differences. The ratings of the nine competencies factored in two coherent factors. There were various individual difference predictors of the total competency rating and the two factor scores. Older participants with higher Openness-to-Experience trait gave higher overall self-estimates. In the second study 173 adults (108 female, 65 male) rated themselves on the 12 independent " super-competencies " specified by Dulewicz (1999). Again there were few significant sex differences. Factor analysis revealed two recognisable factors. Extraverts tended to give higher self-estimates than introverts. The results are discussed in terms of the literature on self-assessed abilities and business competencies. 1. Introduction Whilst differential psychologists attempt to describe and measure traits and abilities for over twenty years, Human Resource professionals have preferred to use the term competency. Originally attributed to McClelland (1973) the concept was popularised by Boyatzis (1982). This paper looks at differences in self-rated competencies based on the literature on self-rated intelligence. The paper aims to examine sex, demographic and personality correlates of self-rated competencies as well as the perceived structure of competencies. One obvious and important issue in the rating of self-perceived competencies or abilities is the extent to which they become self-fulfilling in the sense that people who inaccurately rate themselves low behave in such as a way to fulfil those beliefs. This has implications for the workplace where self-fulfilling expectations and career aspirations have shown to be linked to performance more often than actual ability or competency (Furnham, 2008) 2. Self-Perceived Intelligence Over the last fifteen years there have been a number of studies on the self