The research described here was directed toward furthering our understanding of the antecedents of leadership emergence in groups. Kenny and Zaccaro (1983) have recently speculated that individuals who emerge as leaders may be able to perceive the needs of their group and pattern their own behavior accordingly. Past research strongly supports the notion that individuals who are high self-monitors possess skills corresponding to both these characteristics. Thus the present research examined the relationship between self-monitoring and leadership emergence in a long-term field study of natural groups. The expectation that high self-monitoring would be associated with leadership emergence received strong support. The implications of these results for furthering our understanding of the nature of self-monitoring and leadership are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, L.R., & McLenigan, M. (1987). Sex differences in the relationship between self-monitoring and leader behavior. Small Group Behavior, 18, 147-167.
2.
Barnlund, D.C. (1962). Consistency of emergent leadership in groups with changing tasks and members. Speech Monographs, 29, 45-52.
3.
Bass, B.M. (1981). Stogdill's handbook of leadership: A survey of theory and research. New York: Free Press.
4.
Bell, G.B., & French, R.L. (1950). Consistency of individual leadership position in small groups of varying membership. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 45, 764-767.
5.
Briggs, S.R., Cheek, J.M., & Buss, A.H. (1980). An analysis of the Self-Monitoring Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 679-686.
6.
Dabbs, J.M., Evans, M.S., Hopper, C.H., & Purvis, J.A. (1980). Self-monitors in conversation: What do they monitor ? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 278-284.
7.
Gabrenya, W.K., Jr. , & Arkin, R.M. (1980). Self-Monitoring Scale: Factor structure and correlates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 6, 13-22.
8.
Gangestad, S., & Snyder, M. (1985). "To carve nature at its joints": On the existence of discrete classes in personality. Psychological Review , 92, 317-349.
9.
Garland, H., & Beard, J.F. (1979). Relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence across two task situations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, 72-76.
10.
Geier, J.G. (1967). Atrait approach to the study of leadership in small groups. Journal of Communication, 17, 316-323.
11.
Geizer, R.S., Rarick, D.L., & Soldow, G.F. (1977). Deception and judgment accuracy: A study in person perception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3, 446-449.
12.
Hays, W.L. (1973). Statistics for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Toronto: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
13.
Hollander, E.P., & Julian, J.W. (1970). Studies in leader legitimacy, influence, and innovation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 5, 33-69.
14.
House, R.J., & Baetz, M.L. (1979). Leadership: Some generalizations and new research directions. In B. M. Staw (Ed.), Research in Organizational Behavior (pp. 341-423). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
15.
Jenkins, W.O. (1947). A review of leadership studies with particular reference to military problems. Psychological Bulletin, 44, 54-79.
16.
Kenny, D.A., & Zaccaro, S.J. (1983). An estimate of variance due to traits in leadership . Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 678-685.
17.
Lennox, R.D., & Wolfe, R.N. (1984). Revision of the Self-Monitoring Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1349-1364.
18.
Lippa, R. (1976). Expressive control and the leakage of dispositional introversionextraversion during role-played teaching. Journal of Personality, 44, 541-559.
19.
Lippa, R. (1978). Expressive control, expressive consistency, and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality. Journal of Personality, 46, 438-461.
20.
Lord, R.G. (1977). Leadership behavior: Measurement and relation to social power and leadership perceptions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 114-133.
21.
Lord, R.G., De Vader, C.L., & Alliger, G.M. (1986). A meta-analysis of the relation between personality traits and leadership perceptions: An application of validity generalization procedures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 402-410.
22.
Lord, R.G., Phillips, J.S., & Rush, M.C. (1980). The effects of sex and personality on perceptions of emergent leadership, influence, and social power. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65, 176-182.
23.
Mann, R.D. (1959). A review of the relationship between personality and performance in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 241-270.
24.
McClelland, D.C., & Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). Leadership motive pattern and long-term success in management. Journal of Applied Psychology , 67, 737-743.
25.
McClelland, D.C., & Burnham, D.H. (1976). Power is the great motivator. Harvard Business Review, 54, 100-110.
26.
Murphy, A.J. (1941). A study of the leadership process. American Sociological Review, 6, 674-687.
27.
Nunnally, J.C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
28.
Phillips, J.S., & Lord, R.G. (1981). Causal attributions and perceptions of leadership . Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 28, 143-163.
29.
Snyder, M. (1974). Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 526-537.
30.
Snyder, M. (1979). Self-monitoring processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 85-128.
31.
Snyder, M., Berscheid, E., & Glick, P. (1985). Focusing on the exterior and the interior: Two investigations of the initiation of personal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1427-1439.
32.
Snyder, M., & Gangestad, S. (1986). On the nature of self-monitoring: Matters of assessment, matters of validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 125-139.
33.
Snyder, M., & Monson, T.C. (1975). Persons, situations, and the control of social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 637-644.
34.
Stogdill, R.M. (1948). Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature. Journal of Psychology, 25, 35-71.
35.
Tobey, E.L., & Tunnell, G. (1981). Predicting our impressions on others: Effects of public self-consciousness and acting, a self-monitoring subscale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 661-669.
