Test of Motowidlo et al.'s (1997) Theory of individual differences in task and contextual performance

Although much attention has been given to noncognitive predictors of job performance, few theories have addressed why assessments of noncognitive abilities and orientations are predictive. Drawing on the work of Motowidlo, Borman, and Schmit (1997), a framework is tested to explain the proposed relationships among noncognitive abilities, cognitive abilities, and procedural knowledge. In this framework, procedural knowledge, or understanding of the social and psychological context in which core business processes are embedded, is proposed as a direct antecedent of contextual performance (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993, 1997). Further, both cognitive and noncognitive individual differences are proposed as antecedents of both procedural knowledge and contextual performance. Two studies, which provide initial empirical support for this framework, are presented.