The Relationship Between Personality Types and Job Success Across Diverse Iranian Cultures

This study aimed to philosophically and empirically examine the relationship between personality types and job success across five major cultural groups in Iran (Persian, Azeri, Kurdish, Baluchi, and Arab). The purpose was to identify the moderating role of cultural context in these relationships and to challenge the universality of Western models in diverse Iranian cultural settings. The research employed a descriptive-correlational, cross-cultural comparative approach using a mixed-methods design. The sample consisted of 100 participants (20 from each cultural group), purposefully selected based on specific inclusion criteria. Research instruments included the 36-item short form of the Enneagram Personality Types Questionnaire (Riso-Hudson), a 12-item Job Success Scale (comprising 6 objective and 6 subjective items), and a demographic information form. Data were collected through 45-minute semi-structured interviews using triangulation techniques and analyzed using non-parametric methods in SPSS. The findings revealed that the relationship between personality types and job success is deeply influenced by cultural context. Type 3 (The Achiever) showed a significant positive correlation with objective job success in Persian and Azeri cultures, while Type 6 (The Loyalist) was associated with subjective success in the Baluchi group. Type 8 (The Challenger) emerged as an important predictor in the Azeri culture. Personality type distributions were also heterogeneous across groups, with Type 3 being dominant in the Persian group (40%) and Type 6 in the Baluchi group (35%). Despite relatively low R² values (ranging from 0.18 to 0.27), regression analyses indicated that models predicting job success varied distinctly across cultural groups.