Nathan J. Hiller

Self-monitoring personality at work: a meta-analytic investigation of construct validity.

The validity of self-monitoring personality in organizational settings was examined. Meta-analyses were conducted (136 samples; total N = 23,191) investigating the relationship between self-monitoring personality and work-related variables, as well as the reliability of various self-monitoring measures. Results suggest that self-monitoring has relevance for understanding many organizational concerns, including job performance and leadership emergence. Sample-weighted mean differences favoring male respondents were also noted, suggesting that the sex-related effects for self-monitoring may partially explain noted disparities between men and women at higher organizational levels (i.e., the glass ceiling). Theory building and additional research are needed to better understand the construct-related inferences about self-monitoring personality, especially in terms of the performance, leadership, and attitudes of those at top organizational levels.

The bright-side and the dark-side of CEO personality: examining core self-evaluations, narcissism, transformational leadership, and strategic influence.

This article reports on an examination of the relationships between chief executive officer (CEO) personality, transformational and transactional leadership, and multiple strategic outcomes in a sample of 75 CEOs of Major League Baseball organizations over a 100-year period. CEO bright-side personality characteristics (core self-evaluations) were positively related to transformational leadership, whereas dark-side personality characteristics (narcissism) of CEOs were negatively related to contingent reward leadership. In turn, CEO transformational and contingent reward leadership were related to 4 different strategic outcomes, including manager turnover, team winning percentage, fan attendance, and an independent rating of influence. CEO transformational leadership was positively related to ratings of influence, team winning percentage, and fan attendance, whereas contingent reward leadership was negatively related to manager turnover and ratings of influence.

Searching for Outcomes of Leadership: A 25-Year Review

A significant question in management research is, “What criteria should be used to evaluate the effects of leadership?” In this review, the authors systematically summarize various ways the field of leadership has (and has not) sought to answer questions about whether, when, and how leadership affects outcomes. A total of 1,161 empirical studies over 25 years, spanning micro- and macro-oriented perspectives, were content coded to answer six basic questions that set the scope of leadership science. The authors first descriptively summarize these criterion issues in the empirical literature and draw comparisons across areas (e.g., To what extent have leader-member exchange, transformational, and strategic leadership research differentially examined various outcomes?). Second, the authors explore the implications of criterion selection issues for the further advancement of leadership theory and offer concrete recommendations for future leadership research.

Diminished spatial summation contributes to the age deficit in the discrimination of low-contrast vernier oscillation.

Purpose. This study sought to determine whether a decline in spatial summation contributes to age-related deficits on oscillatory displacement thresholds (ODT’s). A secondary goal was to evaluate the extent of spatial summation on a dynamic version of vernier hyperacuity. Methods. The ODT’s and contrast sensitivity functions (CSF’s) of optimally corrected young and old observers were compared as a function of vernier target length (4, 8, or 32 min), contrast level (5 or 30%), and oscillation rate (2 or 8 Hz). Results. Age deficits on ODT’s were related directly to rate of oscillation, but not target contrast. No age difference was seen in ODT’s for short low-contrast targets; as target length increased thresholds improved more rapidly for young than old observers; this pattern was reversed at high contrast. ODT’s were related strongly and consistently to contrast sensitivity for old but not young observers. Conclusions. Diminished spatial summation appears to contribute to the aging visual system’s loss of temporal discrimination for low contrast oscillating targets. Spatial summation contributes more importantly to the displacement discrimination of oscillating than to static vernier targets.