Energy's role in the extraversion (dis)advantage: How energy ties and task conflict help clarify the relationship between extraversion and proactive performance

• Author: Hannes Leroy,Alexandra Gerbasi,Lisa Nishii,Kristin L. Cullen‐Lester
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Date: 01 October 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2087

Energy’s role in the extraversion (dis)advantage:

How energy ties and task conflict help clarify the

relationship between extraversion and proactive

performance

KRISTIN L. CULLEN-LESTER

1

*, HANNES LEROY

2

, ALEXANDRA GERBASI

3

AND

LISA NISHII

4

1

Research, Innovation, and Product Development, Center for Creative Leadership, One Leadership Place, Greensboro,

North Carolina, U.S.A.

2

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

3

Grenoble Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France

4

The ILR School, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

Summary While academic and practitioner literatures have proposed that extraverts are at an advantage in team-based

work, it remains unclear exactly what that advantage might be, how extraverts attain such an advantage,

and under which conditions. Theory highlighting the importance of energy in the coordination of team efforts

helps to answer these questions. We propose that extraverted individuals are able to develop more energizing

relationships with their teammates and as a result are seen as proactively contributing to their team. However,

problems in coordination (i.e., team task conflict) can reverse this extraversion advantage. We studied 27

project-based teams at their formation, peak performance, and after disbandment. Results suggest that when

team task conflict is low, extraverts energize their teammates and are viewed by others as proactively contrib-

uting to the team. However, when team task conflict is high, extraverts develop energizing relationships with

fewer of their teammates and are not viewed as proactively contributing to the team. Our findings regarding

energizing relationships and team task conflict clarify why extraversion is related to proactive performance

and in what way, how, and when extraverts may be at a (dis)advantage in team-based work. Copyright ©

2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: extraversion; proactive performance; energizing relationships; task conflict

To improve their adaptability and innovativeness, organizations commonly rely on more flexible forms of organiz-

ing, including work teams. In team-based work, employees often need less direct supervision (Crant, 2000), and

instead rely on the self-directed, proactive contributions of team members to initiate change and coordinate their

activities (Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007; Neal, Yeo, Koy, & Xiao, 2012). Although important in the modern

workplace, this surge toward teamwork and proactivity may not suit everyone. The more outgoing, social nature

of extraverts may predispose them to succeed in the context of intense team interactions, while more quiet introverts

may be disadvantaged in these forms of working (Cain, 2012).

Some previous research, where proactive performance is defined in terms of voice, taking charge, and demonstrat-

ing upward influence, finds that more extraverted individuals make greater proactive contributions than their more

introverted counterparts (Grant, Parker, & Collins, 2009; Parker & Collins, 2010). This is explained by the notion

that extraverts are more likely to express their ideas and concerns. Indeed, research indicates that extraverts place

greater value on having the opportunity to share their ideas with others than introverts (Avery, 2003), and they

*Correspondence to: Kristin L. Cullen-Lester, Research,Innovation, and Product Development, Center for Creative Leadership, One Leadership

Place, P.O. Box 26300, Greensboro, North Carolina 27438-6300, U.S.A. E-mail: cullenk@ccl.org

The first two authors contributed equally to this research are listed alphabetically by last name.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 29 November 2014

Revised 10 December 2015, Accepted 21 December 2015

Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 1003–1022 (2016)

Published online 27 January 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.2087

Research Article

engage in higher levels of employee voice (e.g., Crant, Kim, & Wang, 2011; LePine & Van Dyne, 2001; Liu, Liao,

& Liao, 2014) and constructive change-orientated communication when working with others on a decision-making

simulation (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). Although these studies suggest that extraverts engage in proactive actions

such as voicing ideas and concerns, there is also some research that contradicts these findings. For instance, in a

study of administrative government employees, Neal et al. (2012) proposed that individuals’level of extraversion

would be positively associated with others’ratings of the extent to which they suggested ways to make their team

more effective and improve methods for working together (i.e., their proactive team-directed behavior) but failed

to support this hypothesis. They cited the importance of unexamined mediators (e.g., energy and social cohesion)

and moderators (e.g., the nature of the work environment) as potential explanations for this unexpected null finding.

As such, a primary goal of this research is to better understand when and why extraverts might be at an advantage in

making proactive contributions to their team and to consider the possibility that there may be situations where they

may be at a disadvantage.

We utilized the coordination-as-energy-in conversation model (Quinn & Dutton, 2005) as a guiding theoretical

framework to examine not only if, but why and when, more extroverted individuals are viewed as making proactive

contributions to their teams. In team-based work, coordination is essential for a team to achieve its goals; individuals

proactively contribute to this process by offering ideas and suggestions that improve how the team works and its

performance. This coordination process occurs through conversations that transfer not only information but also

energy between individuals (Quinn & Dutton, 2005). Extraverts seem well-suited for this process of informat ion

and energy transfer. Originally defined as being social (Barrick & Mount, 1991), contemporary views suggest extra-

version is more about bringing energy to and deriving energy from social interactions (John & Srivastava, 1999;

Selfhout, Burk, Branje, Denissen, Van Aken, & Meeus, 2010). While extraverts’outgoing nature can energize

others under the right circumstances, thereby contributing to the achievement of team goals, they can also be seen

as overly assertive (Roberts, 2006; Barrick & Mount, 1991) or dominant (Grant, Gino, & Hofmann, 2011; Grant,

2013), particularly during situations that require delicate coordination among those involved. This duality can have

complex consequences for extraverts’role as team members. They can infuse their teams with productive, positive

energy, particularly toward an agreed upon path; however, their outgoing nature can also be overpowering during

conditions of task conflict when team members disagree on how to best proceed (Amason & Sapienza, 1997;

De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). In such situations, the ability of extraverts to energize their teammates may be dimin-

ished because the energy they bring to conversations may be perceived as being in support of their own ideas and

desired directions, further disrupting the coordination process. As a result, they are less likely to be seen as proactive

contributors to their team.

In sum, we examine if, and perhaps more importantly, why and when extraverts are at an (dis)advantage in

team-related efforts, thereby contributing to the existing debate in recent academic (Feiler & Kleinbaum, 2016; Grant

et al., 2011; Grant,2013) and practitioner (Cain,2012) literatures about the presumeduniversal performance-enhancing

effects of extraversion. We provide greater theoreticaland empirical support for the relationships hinted at by Neal et al.

(2012) by groundingour proposed relationships in the coordination as energy-in-conversation model (Quinn & Dutton,

2005) and by examiningmediating and moderating effects. Ourresults offer a nuanced picture of the role of extraverts

in teams, help to clarify previous inconsistent findings, and could influence how team members are selected, teams are

structured, and training and development is used to enhance individuals’proactive contributions to teams.

Theory and Hypotheses

Coordination as energy-in-conversation

Coordination is a critical process within teams. Teams are assumed to benefit organizations by increasing flexibility,

decentralizing decision-making, and more fully utilizing employees’creativity and intellect (Wageman, 1997). However,

1004 K. L. CULLEN-LESTER ET AL.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 1003–1022 (2016)

DOI: 10.1002/job