The agreeableness leadership advantage

Javalagi, Anoop A

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115900 Copy

Description

Title

The agreeableness leadership advantage

Author(s)

Javalagi, Anoop A

Issue Date

2022-07-08

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Newman, Daniel A.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Newman, Daniel A.

Committee Member(s)

• Rounds, James
• Restubog, Simon L. D.
• Kramer, Amit
• Gajendran, Ravi S.

Department of Study

School of Labor & Empl. Rel.

Discipline

Human Res & Industrial Rels

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Personality
• Agreeableness
• Leadership
• Culture
• Collectivism
• Remote Work
• Telecommuting
• Gender

Abstract

Past research on the trait approach to leadership has offered ambiguous findings regarding the relationship of trait Agreeableness with leader effectiveness, suggesting the link is inconsistent and/or not fully conceptually understood (Judge et al., 2002; Judge et al., 2009). The current dissertation proposes four theoretically-relevant moderators expected to enhance the Agreeableness leadership advantage: (a) collectivism, (b) in-person (vs. remote) work, (c) leader gender, and (d) follower agreeableness. The Agreeableness leadership advantage is theoretically considered by leveraging insights from Trait Activation Theory, Media Richness Theory, Role Congruity Theory, and the Interpersonal Complementarity Hypothesis. In general, this dissertation examines the question “when does Agreeableness positively predict leadership effectiveness?” (hypothesizing a stronger relationship under high collectivism, in-person work, a female leader, and an agreeable follower). Initial evidence from the current study offers some support for the first three moderators (all except follower Agreeableness), although the plotted interaction effects suggest that these factors affect disagreeableness leadership disadvantage (i.e., pinpointing circumstances where disagreeableness is more costly), rather than Agreeableness leadership advantage per se. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Graduation Semester

2022-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Anoop A. Javalagi

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