PROACTIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS, DELAYED GRATIFICATIONS AND CAREER SUCCESS IN IT PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the association between proactive personality traits and the self-assessed career success of IT specialists in Pakistan while concentrating on the mediating impact of delayed gratification. A purposive sample of 200 professionals in the age bracket of 30-45 years and having a minimum of five years of experience was collected. The sample was administered The Proactive Personality Scale, the Delaying Gratification Inventory, and the Career Satisfaction Scale. Correlation results showed that proactive personality traits were strongly associated with delayed gratification (r = .708, p < .01) and moderately with subjective career success (r = .481, p < .01). The construct of delayed gratification exhibited a significant positive relationship with career success (r = .589, p < .01). Regression results indicated that delayed gratification acted as a strong predictor of career success (β = .499, p < .001). However, the direct effect of proactive personality was negligible when both predictors were included in the model. Mediation analysis with bootstrap confirmed that the effect of proactive personality on career success was conveyed through delayed gratification. These results indicate that self-regulation of behavior in the temporal dimension oriented towards the future conceivably overshadows proactive behaviors in determining the stride towards career fulfillment and satisfaction.

Keywords: Proactive personality, delayed gratification, subjective career success, mediation, IT professionals, Pakistan