58 Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (2011), 84, 58–77 C  2011 The British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society www.wileyonlinelibrary.com Personality and counterproductive work behaviour: Using conservation of resources theory to narrow the profile of deviant employees Lisa M. Penney 1 ∗ , Emily M. Hunter 2 and Sara J. Perry 1 1 University of Houston, Texas, USA 2 Baylor University, Texas, USA We leverage conservation of resources (COR) theory to explain how conscientiousness and emotional stability (ES) are associated with resource management strategies that may reflect instrumentally driven counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). Specifically, we investigated how the relationship between conscientiousness and CWB varies as a function of the level of available personal (i.e., ES) and organizationally provided (i.e., experienced job constraints) resources. Results from two surveys administered 4 weeks apart to US employees indicate that the negative relationship between conscientiousness and CWB is positive among employees who are low in ES. Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) refers to volitional behaviours by employees that have the potential to harm an organization, its members, or both (Spector & Fox, 2005). It includes rudeness, sabotage, wasting time, and withholding effort. CWB is regarded as a behavioural strain (i.e., a negative behaviour performed in response to perceived workplace stressors; Jex & Beehr, 1991; Spector, 1998), as well as an element of job performance (e.g., Sackett, 2002). CWB is a pervasive and costly problem in American businesses (Greenberg, 1997; Vardi & Weitz, 2004) and therefore a topic of great interest to managers and organizational scientists alike. Research has shown that CWB is a function of both environmental and individual antecedents. For example, CWB is often described as a response to stressful work conditions and the negative emotions they provoke (Martinko, Gundlach, & Douglas, 2002; Spector & Fox, 2005). Personality traits from the Big Five have also been widely studied in relation to CWB (e.g., Berry, Ones, & Sackett, 2007). Of the five, consci- entiousness is considered to be the strongest predictor, although emotional stability (ES) and agreeableness are also related to CWB. Furthermore, the interaction between environment and personality is also important. For example, Colbert, Mount, Harter, Witt, and Barrick (2004) found that the relationship between negative perceptions of the ∗ Correspondence should be addressed to Lisa Penney, 126 Heyne Bldg., Houston, TX 77204-5022, USA (e-mail: lpenney@uh.edu). DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8325.2010.02007.x