Self-Monitoring and Leader Emergence

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.