Personality and organizations: A test of the homogeneity of personality hypothesis.

Abstract

Center for Creative LeadershipA central proposition of attraction-selection-attrition theory (B. Schneider, 1987) and of the literature on organizational socialization was tested. Support for the hypothesis that organizations are relatively homogeneous with respect to the personality attributes of their managers was found. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) conducted on a sample of approximately 13,000 managers from 142 organizations representing a broad cross-sample of U.S. industries revealed a significant effect for organizational membership on the personality characteristics of managers. Results of a 2nd MANOVA, nesting organizations within industries, revealed a significant effect for both organization and industry on the personality characteristics of managers. Some implications of these findings are discussed.During the early part of this century, a group of American anthropologists, who were admittedly influenced by the psychodynamic psychology of Freud, hegan to concern themselves with the study of intercultural variation in personality (cf. DuBois, 1944;Kardiner, 1945). These anthropologists were not so much interested in the development of individual personality, as was true of their counterparts in psychology; rather, they were intrigued by the societal distribution of various personality characteristics. Fromm (1942) summarized their interest when he wrote, ' 'We are interested . . . not in the peculiarities by which . . . persons differ from each other, but in that part of their character structure [personality] that is common to most members of the group" (p. 277). These anthropologists believed that an understanding of shared personality

The Genesis of Top Management Team Diversity: Selective Turnover Among Top Management Teams in Dutch Newspaper Publishing, 1970-94.

“…Important for the present study is that this stream of research suggests "that employers tend to replace organizational members with people who are similar to themselves" (Lawrence, 1997: 18), leading to homogeneity especially at the upper management level of organizations (Schneider et al, 1998). This view extends to include demographic similarity.…”

“…In other words, we could directly observe the phenomenon of interest. Concerning the exit process, this ASA argument suggests that individuals who do not fit a team tend to leave or "be relieved," as has consistently been shown in the research on turnover (Carroll & Harrison, 1998;Schneider et al, 1998). That is,…”

Understanding the Emergence of State Goal Orientation in Organizational Work Groups: The Role of Leadership and Multilevel Climate Perceptions.

“…Demonstrating these relationships is contingent, in part, on ensuring adequate variability of the independent measures. Because variability is often constrained when collecting data from one organization (e.g., Schneider, Smith, Taylor, & Fleenor, 1998), researchers need to MS# 2003 Emergence of State Goal Orientation 28 ensure that work group leaders have significant latitude in managing their work groups, and/or consider collecting data from multiple organizations. Another challenge in testing the present model in a field setting involves issues of control.…”

Predictors of Group Performance in a Police Criminal Investigation Department: the Role of Gender Homogeneity, Leadership and Team Characteristics

“…A possible explanation for this is provided by the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework, which predicts that the individuals most likely to be attracted to, and selected for, positions within an organization are those who fit its values and identity. The framework also predicts that these individuals are more likely to stay with the organization (Schneider 1987;Schneider et al 1998;Turban and Keon 1993).…”