The present research seeks to further understanding of the relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence in groups. It does so by focusing on two proposed moderators of this relationship: sex of the group members and nature of the task confronting the group. On the basis of previous research, it was hypothesized that high self-monitoring would be related to leader emergence for males, but not for females, in mixed-sex groups. Further, the relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence was hypothesized to be stronger for a task providing minimal feedback on the task competence of group members. These hypotheses were tested in a long-term study of natural mixed-sex groups. The sex-moderator hypothesis was supported, but the task-moderator hypothesis was not. Post hoc analyses suggested that high self-monitors emerge as group leaders because they are more adaptive in their behavior than low self-monitors. Both theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Cantor, N. , Mischel, W., & Schwartz, J. C. (1982). A prototype analysis of psychological situations. Cognitive Psychology, 14, 45-77.
2.
Carbonell, J. L. (1984). Sex roles and leadership revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69,44-49.
3.
Cronshaw, S. F. , & Ellis, R. J. (1991). A process investigation of self-monitoring and leader emergence. Small Group Research, 22, 403-420.
4.
Cronshaw, S. F. , & Lord, R. G. (1987). Effects of categorization, attribution, and encoding processes on leadership perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 97-106.
5.
Dabbs, J. M. , Evans, M. S., Hopper, G. H., & Purvis, J. A. (1980). Self-monitors in conversation: What do they monitor?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 278-284.
6.
Ellis, R. J. (1988). Self-monitoring and leadership emergence in groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 681-693.
7.
Ellis, R. J. , Adamson, R. S., Deszca, G., & Cawsey, T. F. (1988). Self-monitoring and leadership emergence. Small Group Behavior, 19, 312-324.
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.
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.
11.
Hackman, J. R. , Brousseau, K. R., & Weiss, J. A. (1976). The interaction of task design and group performance strategies in determining group effectiveness. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 350-365.
12.
Hackman, J. R. , & Morris, C. G. (1975). Group tasks, group interaction process, and group performance effectiveness: A review and proposed integration. In L. Berkowtiz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 8, pp. 45-99). New York: Academic Press.
13.
Hays, W. L. (1973). Statistics for the social sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
14.
House, R. J. , & Baetz, M. L. (1979). Leadership: Some empirical generalizations and new research directions. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 341-423.
15.
Ilgen, D. R. , Fisher, C. D., & Taylor, M. S. (1979). Consequences of individual feedback on behavior in organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, 349-371.
16.
Jenkins, W. O. (1947). A review of leadership studies with particular reference to military problems. Psychological Bulletin, 44, 54-79.
17.
Kenny, D. A. , & Zaccaro, S. J. (1983). An estimate of variance due to traits in leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 678-685.
18.
Lennox, R. D. , & Wolfe, R. N. (1984). Revision of the Self-Monitoring Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1349-1364.
19.
Lippa, R. (1976). Expressive control and the leakage of dispositional introversion-extraversion during role-played teaching. Journal of Personality, 44, 541-559.
20.
Lippa, R. (1978). Expressive control, expressive consistency, and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality. Journal of Personality, 46, 438-461.
21.
Locke, E. A. (1986). Generalizing from laboratory to field settings. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
22.
Lord, R. G. (1977). Functional leadership behavior: Measurement and relation to social power and leadership perceptions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 114-133.
23.
Lord, R. G. , DeVader, 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 ofApplied Psychology, 71, 402-410.
24.
Lord, R. G. , & Rowzee, M. (1979). Task interdependence, temporal phase, and cognitive heterogeneity as determinants of leadership behavior and behavior-performance relations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 23, 182-200.
25.
Mann, R. D. (1959). A review of the relationship between personality and performance in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 241-270.
26.
Megargee, E. I. (1969). Influence of sex roles in the manifestation of leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53, 377-382.
27.
Megargee, E. I. , Bogart, P., & Anderson, B. J. (1966). Prediction of leadership in a simulated industrial task. Journal ofApplied Psychology, 50, 292-295.
28.
Morris, C. G. (1966). Task effects on group interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 545-554.
29.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
30.
Orion Pictures (Producer), & Donaldson, R. (Director). (1984). The Bounty [Film]. Toronto: Criterion.
31.
Schein, V. E. (1973). The relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. Journal ofApplied Psychology, 57, 95-100.
32.
Schein, V. E. (1975). Relationships between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics among female managers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 340-344.
33.
Seeger, J. A. (1983). No innate phases in group problem solving. Academy of Management Review, 8, 683-689.
34.
Shea, G. P. , & Guzzo, R. A. (1987). Groups as human resources. In K. M. Rowland & G. R. Ferris (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 5, pp. 323-356). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
35.
Snyder, M. (1974). The self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 526-537.
36.
Snyder, M. (1979). Self-monitoring processes. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 12, pp. 85-128). New York: Academic Press.
37.
Snyder, M. (1987). Public appearances, private realities: The psychology ofself-monitoring. New York: Freeman.
38.
Snyder, M. , & Cantor, N. (1980). Thinking about ourselves and others: Self-monitoring and social knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 222-234.
39.
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.
40.
Snyder, M. , & Monson, T. C. (1975). Persons, situations, and the control of social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 637-644.
41.
Stogdill, R. M. (1948). Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature. Journal of Psychology, 25, 35-71.
42.
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.
43.
Wentworth, D. K. , & Anderson, L. R. (1984). Emergent leadership as a function of sex and task type. Sex Roles, 11, 513-524.
44.
Yukl, G. A. (1981). Leadership in organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
