From traits to triumph: Exploring the impact of job embeddedness in linking the big five personality traits to career satisfaction among IT sector employees - A combined use of cIPMA and PLS-SEM

Drawing upon trait activation theory (TAT) and conservation of resources theory (COR), the study investigated how the Big Five personality traits influence career satisfaction (CS), with job embeddedness (JE) serving as a mediating variable. The data were gathered from 462 information technology professionals in India via LinkedIn using a purposive sampling approach. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) and a combined importance-performance map analysis (cIPMA), a recently developed approach that integrates importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) with necessary condition analysis (NCA). The results indicated that extraversion, conscientiousness, and job embeddedness significantly and positively predicted career satisfaction, while neuroticism negatively predicted career satisfaction. However, neuroticism and extraversion significantly and positively predicted job embeddedness. Furthermore, the mediation analysis confirmed that job embeddedness mediates the relationship between neuroticism and career satisfaction, and extraversion and career satisfaction. Additionally, IPMA revealed that conscientiousness, extraversion and job embeddedness are important predictors for career satisfaction. However, according to NCA, job embeddedness is not a necessary condition to achieve career satisfaction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to integrate job embeddedness as a mediating variable to establish the relationship between personality traits and career satisfaction. These findings advance our understanding of how neuroticism and conscientiousness influence career satisfaction through job embeddedness, highlighting key theoretical contributions. The findings also provide practical insights for IT managers seeking to improve employee retention and satisfaction.