The Personality–Disengagement Nexus: How Individual Differences Shape Employee Disengagement in the Banking Sector

Employee disengagement has become an important organisational concern, particularly in the banking sector, where demanding workloads, performance expectations, and continuous organisational changes can influence employees’ willingness to remain psychologically involved in their work. This study examined the relationship between personality traits and employee disengagement in the banking sector, focusing on the Big Five personality dimensions of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The study was anchored on the Big Five Personality Theory and adopted a positivist philosophy and quantitative research approach. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with data collected from 398 bank employees through a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26, employing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression. The study highlights the role of individual differences in shaping employees’ responses to workplace demands and their likelihood of experiencing disengagement. The findings indicate that personality traits provide useful insights into variations in employee disengagement, with positive personality characteristics generally associated with greater work involvement, while neuroticism is associated with greater vulnerability to withdrawal and disengagement. The study concludes that understanding personality differences can complement organisational approaches to managing disengagement. It recommends that banking organisations consider individual personality characteristics in employee recruitment, placement, development, and engagement strategies to foster sustained employee involvement and organisational effectiveness.

Banking sector, employee disengagement, employee involvement, individual differences

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