Personality characteristics and work effectiveness among Chinese university lecturers: Organizational commitment and organizational identification as mediators and knowledge management capability as a moderator

Liu Shuyu, Thikhamporn Taweedech and Supot Rattanapun

African Educational Research Journal
Published: September 22 2026
Volume 14, Issue 3
Pages 787-802
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22900929

Abstract

Based on the moderated mediation process model, this study explores the relationship between work effectiveness and university lecturers in China. It examines the mediating role of organizational commitment and organizational identification in the relationships between teachers' conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability and their work effectiveness. It also explores whether the knowledge management capability (KMC) serves as a moderating variable in the relationships between organizational commitment and work effectiveness, organizational identification and work effectiveness. This study employed an explanatory mixed-methods design. EFA, CFA, descriptive statistics and regression-based moderation analyses were used to analyze quantitative data obtained from a structured questionnaire that was administered to 557 university teachers. The quantitative findings were contextualized by conducting semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers and university administrators that were analyzed by directed content analysis. The results showed that the significant positive relationships between conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability and work effectiveness were mediated by organizational commitment and organizational identification. The associations between organizational commitment and organizational identification with work effectiveness was significantly moderated by KMC: The associations were stronger at higher levels of KMC. The qualitative findings highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing, institutional support, and collaborative professional practices in supporting teachers’ work effectiveness. This study contributes to higher-education research by integrating personality traits, organizational commitment, organizational identification, and KMC within a moderated mediation model. The results indicate that strengthening organizational commitment, organizational identification, and KMC may support university teachers’ work effectiveness.

Keywords: Work effectiveness, organizational commitment, organizational identification, knowledge management capability, personality traits, higher education, university teachers.

Full Text PDF

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0