Understanding the effects of personality traits on solver engagement in crowdsourcing communities: a moderated mediation investigation
Information Technology & People
ISSN: 0959-3845
Article publication date: 3 March 2021
Issue publication date: 28 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Crowdsourcing communities enable companies to post challenges that are completed by solvers (workers); their success depends on engagement, requiring both creativity and effort. This study explores solver engagement in online crowdsourcing communities, advancing the theory of trait engagement by investigating the mediating roles of: (a) task-related self-efficacy in linking conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion, with solver engagement, and (b) task complexity in influencing the mediation.
Design/methodology/approach
215 valid responses were obtained from solvers engaged in the popular Chinese crowdsourcing community, Epwk.com, using an online questionnaire. PLS was then used to analyze the data.
Findings
Results show that self-efficacy mediates the relationships for conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion, with solver engagement. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that self-efficacy mediates the relationships for: (a) conscientiousness and extraversion, for only solvers with high task complexity; and (b) neuroticism, for only solvers with low task complexity.
Originality/value
The authors’ findings underscore the importance of accounting for solvers' situational contexts when examining the relationships between personality, self-efficacy and solver engagement in online crowdsourcing communities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71971008, 71801169, 71804056, 71901080), Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant Nos. 18YJC630250), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2018M642033).Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wei Shan, School of Economics and Management, Beihang University.
Citation
Shi, X., Evans, R., Pan, W. and Shan, W. (2022), "Understanding the effects of personality traits on solver engagement in crowdsourcing communities: a moderated mediation investigation", Information Technology & People, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 750-780. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-05-2020-0290
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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