IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v26y2015i4p1243-1260.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Integrating Personality and Social Networks: A Meta-Analysis of Personality, Network Position, and Work Outcomes in Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Ruolian Fang

    (NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119245)

  • Blaine Landis

    (Department of Management Science and Innovation, University College London, London WCIE 6BT, United Kingdom)

  • Zhen Zhang

    (W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287)

  • Marc H. Anderson

    (College of Business, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011)

  • Jason D. Shaw

    (Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong)

  • Martin Kilduff

    (Department of Management Science and Innovation, University College London, London WCIE 6BT, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Using data from 138 independent samples, we meta-analytically examined three research questions concerning the roles of personality and network position in organizations. First, how do different personality characteristics—self-monitoring and the Big Five personality traits—relate to indegree centrality and brokerage, the two most studied structurally advantageous positions in organizational networks? Second, how do indegree centrality and brokerage compare in explaining job performance and career success? Third, how do these personality variables and network positions relate to work outcomes? Our results show that self-monitoring predicted indegree centrality (across expressive and instrumental networks) and brokerage (in expressive networks) after controlling for the Big Five traits. Self-monitoring, therefore, was especially relevant for understanding why people differ in their acquisition of advantageous positions in social networks. But the total variance explained by personality ranged between 3% and 5%. Surprisingly, we found that indegree centrality was more strongly related to job performance and career success than brokerage. We also found that personality predicted job performance and career success above and beyond network position and that network position partially mediated the effects of certain personality variables on work outcomes. This paper provides an integrated view of how an individual’s personality and network position combine to influence job performance and career success.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruolian Fang & Blaine Landis & Zhen Zhang & Marc H. Anderson & Jason D. Shaw & Martin Kilduff, 2015. "Integrating Personality and Social Networks: A Meta-Analysis of Personality, Network Position, and Work Outcomes in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1243-1260, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:26:y:2015:i:4:p:1243-1260
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.0972
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.0972
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.2015.0972?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruolian Fang & Lei Chi & Manli Chen & Robert A. Baron, 2015. "Bringing Political Skill into Social Networks: Findings from a Field Study of Entrepreneurs," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 175-212, March.
    2. Hinds, Pamela J. & Carley, Kathleen M. & Krackhardt, David & Wholey, Doug, 2000. "Choosing Work Group Members: Balancing Similarity, Competence, and Familiarity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 226-251, March.
    3. Baron, Robert A., 1989. "Personality and organizational conflict: Effects of the type a behavior pattern and self-monitoring," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 281-296, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John B. Bingham & James B. Oldroyd & Jeffery A. Thompson & Jeffrey S. Bednar & J. Stuart Bunderson, 2014. "Status and the True Believer: The Impact of Psychological Contracts on Social Status Attributions of Friendship and Influence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 73-92, February.
    2. Sébastien Damart, 2010. "A Cognitive Mapping Approach to Organizing the Participation of Multiple Actors in a Problem Structuring Process," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 505-526, September.
    3. Starling David Hunter & Henrik Bentzen & Jan Taug, 2020. "On the “missing link” between formal organization and informal social structure," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Zhang, Yin & Lu, Baozhou & Zheng, Haidong, 2020. "Can buzzing bring business? Social interactions, network centrality and sales performance: An empirical study on business-to-business communities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 170-189.
    5. Segrest Purkiss, Sharon L. & Perrewe, Pamela L. & Gillespie, Treena L. & Mayes, Bronston T. & Ferris, Gerald R., 2006. "Implicit sources of bias in employment interview judgments and decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 152-167, November.
    6. Hongjiang Lv & Xinghua Zhao & Man Cao & Jingjing Ding, 2023. "How can managers, acting as brokers, be ambidextrous? The effect of trust brokerage on managers’ ambidexterity," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 1008-1034, July.
    7. Lee, Sunyoung & Pitesa, Marko & Pillutla, Madan & Thau, Stefan, 2015. "When beauty helps and when it hurts: An organizational context model of attractiveness discrimination in selection decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 15-28.
    8. Jinhong Xie & X. Michael Song & Anne Stringfellow, 1998. "Interfunctional Conflict, Conflict Resolution Styles, and New Product Success: A Four-Culture Comparison," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(12-Part-2), pages 192-206, December.
    9. Hansin Bilgili & Jonathan L. Johnson & Tsvetomira V. Bilgili & Alan E. Ellstrand, 2022. "Research on social relationships and processes governing the behaviors of members of the corporate elite: a review and bibliometric analysis," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(8), pages 2285-2339, November.
    10. Mariëtte Kaandorp & Elco van Burg & Tomas Karlsson, 2020. "Initial Networking Processes of Student Entrepreneurs: The Role of Action and Evaluation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 527-556, May.
    11. Demirbağ Orkun & Demir Hale Cide & Yozgat Uğur, 2020. "Political Will, Political Skill, Network Resources and Personal Reputation: A Serial Two-Mediator Model," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 28(3), pages 26-56, September.
    12. Mary M. Maloney & Priti Pradhan Shah & Mary Zellmer-Bruhn & Stephen L. Jones, 2019. "The Lasting Benefits of Teams: Tie Vitality After Teams Disband," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 260-279, March.
    13. Nicola Breugst & Dean A. Shepherd, 2017. "If you Fight with Me, I'll Get Mad! A Social Model of Entrepreneurial Affect," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(3), pages 379-418, May.
    14. Hector G. Ceballos & Sara E. Garza & Francisco J. Cantu, 2018. "Factors influencing the formation of intra-institutional formal research groups: group prediction from collaboration, organisational, and topical networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(1), pages 181-216, January.
    15. C. O. Iroham & M. E. Emetere & H. I. Okagbue & O. Ogunkoya & O. D. Durodola & N. J. Peter & O. M. Akinwale, 2019. "Modified Pricing Model for Negotiation of Mortgage Valuation Between Estate Surveyors and Valuers and Their Clients," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 20(4), pages 337-347, December.
    16. Mohamed Bin Abderrazek Boukhris, 2019. "Does Performance Homophily Matter in Acquisition Decisions? Evidence From Acquisition Network in the Global Electricity Industry," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(3), pages 715-722, 03-2019.
    17. Yili Hong & Benjamin B.M. Shao, 2021. "On Factors that Moderate the Effect of Buyer‐Supplier Experience on E‐Procurement Platforms," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(4), pages 1034-1051, April.
    18. Tiziana Casciaro & Miguel Sousa Lobo, 2015. "Affective Primacy in Intraorganizational Task Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 373-389, April.
    19. Ramadhar Singh & Hong Yi Goh, 2006. "Gender and Group versus Individual Target as Moderators of the Models of Crossed Categorisation Effects," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 18(2), pages 139-166, November.
    20. Kirgios, Erika L. & Chang, Edward H. & Milkman, Katherine L., 2020. "Going it alone: Competition increases the attractiveness of minority status," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 20-33.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:26:y:2015:i:4:p:1243-1260. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.