Running head: EXTRAVERSION AND CONSCIENTIOUSNESS TRAITS



Extraversion and Conscientiousness Traits andTheir Influence on Leadership Emergence and EffectivenessPatrick WhalenTemple UniversityAuthor NoteThis paper was prepared for Communication in Media Organizations, MSP 4696 Spring 2015, taught by Professor Mooney.Extraversion and Conscientiousness Traits and Their Influence on Leadership Emergence and EffectivenessThe trait leadership perspective is defined by Avtgis, Rancer, and Liberman (2012) as a “perspective of leadership where leadership qualities are believed to be within an individual’s personality” (p. 175). This perspective implies people are “born” with certain leadership qualities, suggesting that individuals “either possess the attributes of a leader or they do not” (Avtgis et al., 2012, p. 175). There are a number of personality attributes within this perspective that are associated with leadership emergence and effectiveness. In “Personality and Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review”, Judge, Bono, Ilies and Gerhart (2002) defined leader emergence as the degree in which others perceive someone to be a leader and leader effectiveness as a leader’s ability to achieve their goals and those of the organization. While other ideologies, such as the situational leadership perspective and exchange approaches to leadership, hold their respective views on what contributes to the emergence and effectiveness of leaders, the trait leadership perspective is of particular importance. For decades, scholars have questioned what influences the formation of an effective leader. The vast number of studies and research have provided vital information about the links between personality traits and leadership. Judge et al. discussed the five-factor model of personality, or the Big Five, and defined the major aspects of personality in five dimensions: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. According to Zaccaro, Kemp, and Bader, in “Leadership Traits and Attributes”, “a number of researchers also have applied this model, or linked at least one of the five factors, to leadership” (p. 111). This paper will demonstrate that certain attributes, such as extraversion and conscientiousness, are the most influential in leadership emergence and effectiveness.Extraversion is defined in the dictionary as the act of directing one's interest outward or to things outside the self. In Judge et al.’s meta-analysis, extraversion (ρ= .31) had the strongest correlation with leadership. According to Judge et al. (2002), “Extraversion represents the tendency to be sociable, assertive, active, and to experience positive affects, such as energy and zeal (p. 767).These tendencies of an extraverted individual are what make this attribute the most influential over all others in leadership emergence. Matt McFarland of the Washington Post, in “Emergent Leadership: The Trait That Smart, Innovative Companies Seek out in Employees”, describes emergent leaders as those who “inspire, are respected and followed.” A sociable individual has an increased potential to rise to a leadership position because their set of characteristics aid in persuading and motivating others to achieve goals (Ng, Ang, and Chan, 2008, p.735). As Judge et al. (2002) described, “talking is strongly related to emergent leadership,” (p. 774) which supports the sociable individual in becoming a leader. Judge et al. (2002) also communicated that within groups, the individual who is most likely to emerge as the leader is the extravert, because their characteristics form a leader-like perception in the eyes of the other members. This also means that those characteristics will result in that same individual emerging as a leader in other groups, no matter how different the variables. Zaccaro et al. (2004) suggested that the results of numerous studies “provide solid evidence that leaders who emerged in one group situation also were seen as leaders in different groups with different members, and across different situations, requiring different leadership responses” (p. 108). This could be a result of the image that members of an organization refer to when thinking of a leader. Kevin Johnston, in “What Kind of Image Should a Leader Have?” explained that people view leaders as having good character, confidence, enthusiasm, organizational skills, and focus. As Judge et al. (2002) described, the emergence of a leader could be due to individual’s implicit views of leaders as extraverts. In addition to emergence, there has been a great deal of research regarding the relationship between extraversion and leadership effectiveness. Judge et al. (2002) also suggested, while extraversion may have a greater influence on leadership emergence, it is also positively related to leadership effectiveness. An extraverted leader could have a greater potential of increasing their referent power, which means that their followers are more likely to like that leader and their ideas (Avtgis et al., 2012, p.174). This is probable because of the fact that the characteristics of an extravert are usually seen in a positive light by others, making that person likeable. Extraversion can also encompass the trait of charisma, which Avtgis et al. (2012) stated “reflects the leader’s ability to display a high degree of communication competence, the ability to inspire confidence, the ability to inspire subordinates, as well as the ability to convince subordinates to buy into the leader’s vision” (p. 175). This trait makes an effective leader because those who possess it have the ability get followers on board with their goals, which can benefit the organization. Ng et al. (2008) structured their research between the relationship of personality and leadership effectiveness, and focused on leadership self-efficacy which “refers to the perceived capabilities of the individual to perform functions necessary to accomplish specific leadership roles effectively” (p. 734). The results produced by this research showed that the level of confidence that comes from an extraverted leader positively contributes to that leader’s overall effectiveness (Ng et al., 2008, p. 735). In addition to extraversion, conscientiousness is also a major influence on both emergence and effectiveness.Conscientiousness, as defined by Wikipedia, is a personality trait of being thorough, careful, or vigilant and implies a desire to do a task well. This trait is a major influence on leadership emergence and effectiveness. In the meta-analysis conducted by Judge et al. (2002) relating the Big Five traits to leadership, they found that conscientiousness (ρ= .28) had the strongest correlation to leadership second to extraversion (p. 770). As was the case with extraversion, conscientiousness has a stronger relationship with leader emergence than with leader effectiveness (Judge et al., 2002, p. 773).In the meta-analysis Judge et al. also discussed the credibility interval excluded zero for leader emergence but not for leadership effectiveness. Two aspects within the overall conscientiousness trait, achievement and dependability, are the greatest contributors to the emergence of a leader (Judge et al., 2002, p. 770). This could be due to the same reason that extraverted individuals emerge as leaders in different groups. It is plausible that the characteristics that a conscientious individual possesses directly relate to leadership emergence because of how other members in the group perceive that individual. As noted by Judge et al. (2002) certain activities, such as note taking, facilitating processes, etc., are qualities of conscientiousness that can cause the rapid emergence of a leader (p. 773). There is also a great deal of information linking conscientiousness and leadership effectiveness. “We know that Conscientiousness is related to overall job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991), and this suggests that Conscientiousness will be related to leader effectiveness” (Judge et al., 2002, p. 768). Marinova, Moon and Kamdar (2012) argued that “Conscientiousness is expected to have far-reaching positive consequences, extending beyond the degree of competence needed for individual performance” (p. 1260). Other characteristics of conscientious individuals also directly correlate with those of effective leaders. Such characteristics include initiative and persistence (Judge et al., 2002) which lead one to “expect that conscientious individuals will be more effective leaders” (p. 768). The results of Judge et al.’s (2002) meta-analysis concluded that conscientiousness is the second most influential factor in leadership emergence and effectiveness, after extraversion. Because of the situational leadership perspective, the relationship between personality traits and leadership has been questioned and more studies have been conducted with a focus on different situations. Scholars have debated the trait leadership perspective and the linkage between the “Big Five” aspects of extraversion and conscientiousness and leadership. Some have argued that the two traits only influence leadership emergence and effectiveness in certain situations like government or military settings (Ng et al., 2008). Various authors have also argued in their research that different group situations, varying in task, composition, or both, have a greater relationship with leadership (Zaccaro et al., 2004).While there is some evidence supporting this claim, the larger body of data has shown that extraversion and conscientiousness remain more influential. Zaccaro et al. (2004) referenced two studies where the results showed that “leadership rankings of a member in one group were highly correlated with rankings of the same member in different groups” (p. 106). Other researchers who support the situational leadership perspective, argue that leadership depends on the situation rather than a certain set of traits (Avtgis et al., 2012, p. 176). Barnlund (1962) conducted a study that varied in both task and composition for groups, resulting “in a nonsignificant correlation of .64 between leader emergence in one situation and similar status in group situations of differing tasks and members” (Zaccaro et al., 2004, p. 106-107). While these findings supported the situational leadership perspective, two other studies referenced by Zaccaro et al. (2004) showed that in different group tasks, requiring different leadership abilities, the leader status stayed the same for each one (p. 106). As noted by Judge et al. (2002), certain areas, such as business, student, and military or government settings, yield more positive results for extraverted or conscientious leaders over others. As Zaccaro et al. (2004) showed by magnifying the issues with the results of previous situational studies, just because the traits are more beneficial to certain job settings and situations that does not mean that they have any negative effects on others.In conclusion, there is a considerable amount of evidence that extraversion and conscientiousness are key traits that play a major role in leadership emergence and effectiveness. As many studies and researchers have shown, extraversion has the strongest influence on both leader emergence and effectiveness, with conscientiousness being the second strongest. Both traits have a heavier influence on leadership emergence. While each trait has its individual effect, each one has different characteristics that contribute to an effective leader. Some researchers believe that leadership emergence and effectiveness depends more on the situation rather than the traits possessed by an individual. Yet, as the larger body of data and numbers has shown, extraversion and conscientiousness are two traits that have the greatest influence on leadership emergence and effectiveness, even in situations that vary in task, composition, or job setting.ReferencesAvtgis, T., Rancer, A., & Liberman, C. (2012). Strategic Leadership and Entrepreneurial Spirit. In Organizational Communication: Strategies for Success (2nd ed., pp. 174-177). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Pub.Johnston, K. (n.d.). What Kind of Image Should a Leader Have? Retrieved from , T., Bono, J., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. (2002). Personality and Leadership: A Qualitative And Quantitative Review.?Journal of Applied Psychology,?87(4), 765-780.Marinova, S., Moon, H., & Kamdar, D. (2012). Getting Ahead or Getting Along? The Two-Facet Conceptualization of Conscientiousness and Leadership Emergence. Organization Science, 24(4), 1257-1276.Ng, K., Ang, S., & Chan, K. (2008). Personality And Leader Effectiveness: A Moderated Mediation Model Of Leadership Self-efficacy, Job Demands, And Job Autonomy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(4), 733-743.McFarland, M. (2014, February 24). Emergent leadership: The trait that smart, innovative companies seek out in employees. Retrieved from that-smart-innovative-companies-seek-out-in-employees/Zaccaro, S. J., Kemp, C., & Bader, P. (2004). Leader traits and attributes. In J.Antonakis, A. T.Cianciolo, and R. J.Sternberg ( Eds.),?The nature of leadership?(pp. 101– 124). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ................
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