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Putting Personality in Social Context: Extraversion, Emergent Leadership, and the Availability of RewardsUniversity of Western Ontario, lcampb23{at}uwo.ca
Texas A&M University
Southern Methodist University
Texas A&M University The present research tested relations between extraversion and emergent leadership among men in situations that differed in potential reward availability. Four-person groups of men engaged in a Leaderless Group Discussion (LGD) task and were randomly assigned to be evaluated by an attractive female observer, an attractive male observer, or not be evaluated. Evolutionary theories suggest that impressing a female evaluator in an intrasexually competitive situation should hold greater reward potential for men than impressing either a male evaluator or no evaluator. Accordingly, more extraverted men (who are more sensitive to reward cues) should display more group leadership when being evaluated by a woman than either a man or no one. Self-and peer ratings confirmed that more extraverted men were significantly more likely to emerge as leaders, but only in the female-evaluator condition. The results are discussed in terms of the interplay between personality, situational factors, and evolutionary principles.
Key Words: extraversion behavioral activation system reward sensitivity leadership moderation personality
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 29, No. 12,
1547-1559 (2003) |
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