Listening and Influence 1 Running Head LISTENING AND ORGANIZATIONAL IN - PDF document

1 Listening and Influence 1 Running Head:
Listening and Influence 1 Running Head: LISTENING AND ORGANIZATIONAL INFLUENCE Not Just Holding Forth: How Listening Relates to Exerting Influence The present study explored various ways in whorganization members’ l mechanisms, we found that: (1) how well organizational members listen is positively associated with their tendenciestening also interacts with expressive communication to predict influence, such that the positive relationship between listening and influence is more pronounced among people with stronger expressive communication tendencies, (3) organizational members’ dispositional narcissism moderated the positive relationship between listening and influence, with this positive relationship being stronger among those higher in narcissism, and (4) listening mediated the relationship between organizational members’ personalities (from the “Bpractical implications are disc

2 ussed, as are lim Everyday views of tho
ussed, as are lim Everyday views of those who exert influence in the workplace seem to suggest people display sensitivity to and consideration of others’ input. Scholarly theories of influence similarly communication (i.e., messages, such as conveying a vision) and the receptive aspects ofh aspects of communication have been received somewhat less empirical coverage. Foimportant to understand better the various ways in which listening may be related to how purpose in mind. The Roles of Listening in Exerting Influence at Work behaviors of others (Cialdini & Trost, at those who are better listeners are more influential, and (2) the positive relationshiconceptually distinct mechanisms: an informational one and a relational one. On the informational front, effective listening gives organizational members access to coworkers’ customers, competitors, and members listen well, thei

3 r interaction partners will deliver info
r interaction partners will deliver information to them more effectively (Bavelas, Coates, & Johnson, 2000). Moreover, listening yields potentially important information about coworkers’ attitudes, emotionsparties may use to tailor and thereby heighten the efficacy of their influence attempts. s important benefits aside from eliciting information. Theory and research in the procedurmanagers (Eisenberger, Fasolo, & Davis-LaMailliken, 2000). Without trust, targets of influence attempts may question the agents’ motives, regardless of their knowledge and expertise, making influence less likely. Research from the influence literature peers—is significantly related to task commitment and managerial effectiveness (e.g., Yukl, Kim, & Falbe, 1996; Yukl & Tracey, 1992). Furtheindividuals are more ldini & Trost, 1998) or with whom they feel Edmondson, 1999, 2003), both of which may be The di

4 stinction between ability and motivation
stinction between ability and motivation may further help to differentiate the informational and relational mechanisms. Listening enhances organizational members’ ability to persuade by allowing them to acquire more information (informational). Listening also motivates because they feel more connected to him/her (relational). Indeed, a haprovided evidence of a positive relationship between listening and whether people emerge as leaders, and perhaps more importantly, the extent to which they are seen as effective in their The present study examines four theoretically important questions pertaining to the that listening is positively related to influence via informational or relational mechanisms. First, does listening (a receptive aspect of communication) account for additional variance in organizational members’ influence, over and communicators? Second, in addition to explainingexpr

5 essive communication interact to predict
essive communication interact to predict influence? Thzational members’ narcissism, mbetween listening and influence? Fourth, does listening help to account for or mediate the members’ personalities (as reflected in the “Big Five”) and their influence? Below, we provide conceptual rationales for each of these questions. Expressive communication involves sending messages to otrationale for change, or promotithat listening matters largely to the extent that it helps organizational memberwords, it may be that listening promotes organizational members’ influence because doing so allows them to gather information which may be used to express themselves more effectively. Indeed, there is ample evidence that expressive communication behaviors are critical to influence. For example, research has demonstrated greater influence when li, LaFleur, & Loeber, 1995; Driskell, Olmstead, & Salas, 1

6 993; Ridgeway, 1987; Ridgeway & Diekema,
993; Ridgeway, 1987; Ridgeway & Diekema, 1989). In the use of logical arguments aassociated with task commitment and manageriWhereas expressive communication is clearly tually distinct from expressipositive relationship between listening and influence will emerge over and above the impact of expressive communication on influence. One expressive communication and listening is the Expressive communication, and the items that measure it, refer to the process (e.g., “when making a point, s/he is concise, brief, and clear”). Listening may facilitate the process of expressive communication by en to say. For example, through listening, one can get advice and use it to make the right policy or strategy judgment. Furthermore, the very fact that people feel listened to could make the influencing party’s expressive communication more effective. Both the informational and relational bases of fer

7 to a conceptually different skill set o
to a conceptually different skill set of with effective expressive tended not to control for (or examine simultaneously) expressive communication. Hence, one sive communication. organizational members’ listening tendencies and the extent to which they are seen as influential will emerge over and Our conceptual foundation suggests not only thover and above the effect of expressive communiith each other to predict influence. Being a good listener enables people to be more influential for the informational and/or relational reasons set forth above. Those higher in expressive communication, moreover, are more effective in getting their message across. Thus, organization members shoulcombine good listening skills with the tendency nd having expressive communication skills enables them to make good on thcation will interact to predict people’s tendencies to be influential, such and

8 influence should be more pronounced am c
influence should be more pronounced am communication. An important implication of the previous nd influence may be enhanced by unearthing moderators, that is, factors that make listening more or less strongly tion members’ degree of dispositional narcissism also may moderate the positive relationship between listening and influence. Narcissism involves a grandiose sense of self and entitlement as well as a preoccupation with success and demands for admi2001). Individual differences in organizational members’ narcissism have been shown to be narcissists may be at risk of hers’ viewpoints and information (e.g., Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004); in other words, they may be nd Hambrick (1997) found that CEOs who are high in hubris pay higher premiums for corporate acquisitions, particularly when board vigilance is lacking, which may be due in part to their failure

9 to listen to the advice of others. Othe
to listen to the advice of others. Other research to) negative information about themselves as well as the messengers who delivmay be at risk of straining their relationships with others. Whereas they may make positive initial impressions, these early appraisals often deteriorIn short, narcissism may give an organizational member passionate drive, but if the organizational member fails to elicit and consider relevant information, she may “drive in the wrong direction” (an informationally-based deficit). Narcissism also mamembers self-assuredness, but if they fail to showmay stunt their relationships (a interaction effect between narcissism and listeronger among those higher in narcissism. Whereas narcissism generally was expect listening, organizational members who display both high narcissism effective listening may be particularly influential. Such persons may effectively combin

10 e both the expressive and the receptive
e both the expressive and the receptive aspwhich they harness their zeal, build relationships and bring others along. However, high narcissism combined with poor listening may lead to the lowest levels of influence. Narcissists who do not listen may damage their relationships Narcissism and listening will interact to predict influence such that the positive relationship between listening and influence will be stronger among organizational members who are relatively high in narcissism. One of the dominant frameworks of personalMcCrae, 1992; Goldberg, 1990). In a meta-analysis of 222 correlations from 73 samples, Judge et al. (2002) reported positive relationships between each of the Big Five traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and emotional stability) and a r managers were judged to be effective in their roles. The fact that the Big Five pe

11 rsonality dimemanagerial effectiveness s
rsonality dimemanagerial effectiveness suggests that the Big Five also may variable in the present study, namely, the extent to which organization members are judged to be influential. After all, the ability to influence others is an important element of managerial effectiveness. In addition to documenting relationships between the Big Five and managerial these relationships. We hypothesifour of the Big Five dimensions in particular—openness to experience, agreeableness, may help to explain why these factors have ted to managerial effectiveness.personality dimensions and managerial effectivenmediate (at least in part) the reBig Five and a key element of managerial effectiveness, namely, influence. tellectually curious, creative, insightful rmational side of listening. Open individuals embrace change and appreciate diverse and novel ideas and perspectives ence may predispose people

12 to be more likely tert and Burris (2007
to be more likely tert and Burris (2007) found that subordinates whose managers were open to changemore willing to voice ideas and suggestions. Listening will mediate the relationship between openness to experience In addition, agreeableness, or the tendency to be warm, caring, empathic, trusting and rg, 1997), maps onto the relational side of listening. Agreeable aziano, Jensen-Campbell, & Hair, 1996). Agreeable individuals may be more likely supervisors as more approachable (Hogan & may be more successful at building relationships, which, in turn will make them more influential. Listening will mediate the relationship between agreeableness and thorough, hard working and achievement-oriented (Costa & McCrae, 1992), maps onto both the informational and relational sides of listening. Corganized and attentive to details. They alsoindividuals may be more likely to consider ot.e., li

13 sten) when making gather all of the fact
sten) when making gather all of the facts; in the course of doing so, they also may form good relationships with others. Listening will mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and Emotional stability, or the tendency to be calm, even-tempered and free from persistent ety and depression (Costa & McCrae, 1992) also maps onto the informational and relational sides of listening. Emotional stability makes people less self-preoccupied, which may enhance their ability to be attentive to othetake in others’ perspectives, they may use the information gleaned to influence others. Furthermore, their ability to focus on others also may promote their ability to form solid relationships with them. Listening will mediate the relationship between emotional stability and In short, to the extent that listening helps organizational members gain information and/or build relationships, it m

14 ay at least partially mediate or account
ay at least partially mediate or account for relationships between each of openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and influence. the mediating role of listeniorganizational members’ personalities and their effectiveness. Thus, our examination of the mediating role of listening may shed light on the mechanism through which organizational members’ personalities are predictive of their efficacy in the workplace. whether listening will completely mediate or partially mediate the relaopenness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and influence; hence, this matter will be treated as an exploratory question. mension—has been shown to be positively related to managerial effectivmediate the relationship between extraversion and influence.expected to be positively related to listening. Instead, we raise the possibility that the relations

15 hip between extraversion and influence
hip between extraversion and influence may be account to be articulate, emotionally expressive, sociable and dominant and to experience positive affect such as McCrae, 1992; Watson & Clark, 1997). Thus, the link between extraversion and influence may extraversion and influence. In sum, based on prior theory and research whrelated to influence due to both informational and relational mechanisms, we hypothesize that: (1) listening will be related to influence, over and above the eff(2) the positive relationship between listening and influence will be stronger among people relatively high in expressive communication, (3) influence will be stronger among people who are retional narcissism, (4) listening will at least partly mediate the relationship between each of openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability and influence. Finally, and in addition t

16 o the various listening-based hypotheses
o the various listening-based hypotheses, we predict that expressive communication will at least partially mediate the relationship beFigure 1 provides a graphic summary of the relationships examined in the present study. The sample consisted of 274 students enrolled in a full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at a private East Coast university. Of the sample, 109 (36.0 percent) were women, and participants’ mean age was 28.29 (collapsed across gender in the analyses reported below.) As part of a course requirement, participants completed a feedback exercise in which they were rated by several former co-workers dimensions. Participants identified their respondents and contacted them dicompleted on-line and anonymously. On average, participants had 3.87 (former work colleagues serve as raters. We asked raters to clarify how well they knew the target,

17 using a four-point scale, ranging from “
using a four-point scale, ranging from “not well at all” (1) to “extremely well” (4). The arity measure was 3.12 (dispositional narcissism was gathered through an online self-report instrumentin the course. We drew upon existing measures and narcissism). For the other measures (listening, expressive communiscales. The newly-developed items were constructed on the basis of multi-rater feedback and individual coaching sessions with working managers and MBA students. We drew on qualitative in multi-rater surveys) as well as commentary offered by professionals in coaching sessions (e.g., correlates or predictors of these three constructs. Furthermore, developing our own scales enabled us to identify specific tructs. For example, if listening lly important to measure behaviors that reflect the extent to Influence. Respondents rated how strongly four statements characterized the target’

18 s “never” (1) to “always” (7). Sample i
s “never” (1) to “always” (7). Sample items included: “S/he is direct and steer meetings in his/her favor” (revitems). atements characterized the target’s a seven-point scale, ranging from “never” (1) to “always” (7). Sample items included: “As a listener, s/he information,” and “When someone else is speaking, s/he interrupts and/or shows impatience” (reverse-coded; see Appendix A for the text of all items). ongly seven statements ranging from “never” (1) to “always” (7). Sample items included: “When making a point, s/he is concise, brief, and clear,” and “S/he speaks up an(see Appendix A for the text of all items). We drew on the scale developed by Gosling, Rentfrow, and Swann short form of the Big Five. Their ten-item measure (known as the TIPI, which stands for the Ten-Item Personality Inventory) includes two items for each of the five dimensions. For each of ten statements,

19 scale, ranging from “disagree strongly”
scale, ranging from “disagree strongly” (1) to “agree strongly” (7): One of the measures of xperiences, complex.” One of the measures of agreeableness was, “S/he is sympathetic, warm.” One of the measures of conscientiousness was, “S/he is dependable, self-disciplined.” One of the measures of emotional stability was, “S/he is calm, emotionally stable.” One of the measures of extraversion was, “S/he is extraverted, Whereas all of the constructs mentioned above were drawn from raters of the focal participant, the narcissism measure was based on self-reports. We measured narcissism using the previously validated NPI-16 (Ames, to choose which of a pair of items was more descriptive of them; each of the 16 pairs consisted nt item (e.g., "I really like to benarcissistic-inconsistent item (e.g., "It makes me uncomfortable to Scores were computed as the proportion of narcissistic-consistent

20 items chosen. Inter-Rater Agreement W
items chosen. Inter-Rater Agreement We examined two estimates of inter-rater agreement for each of the scales within each of the 274 participants, namely, within-group inter-rater agreement (multi-item rWG(J); James, Demaree, & Wolf, 1984) and average deviation indices from the scale means (ADM(J); Burke, Finkelstein, & Dusig, 1999). We calculated the average for these indices in order to determine raters’ judgments. As indicated in Table 1, the results of these analyses demonstrate that raters were sufficiently consistent to justify aggregation. Specifically, an WG(J)considered necessary to demonstrate within-group agreement (rWG(J) = 1.0 indicates perfect agreement; James, 1988). All variables exceeded this .7 cutoff. The value of 1.2 is the upper-limit cutoff for acceptable inter-rater agreement with the type items (Burke & Dunlap, 2002). (The M(J) index measures the dispersio

21 n of responses above the mean; therefore
n of responses above the mean; therefore, a smaller score indicates higher agreement.) All variables met this udgments of their focal participant in the analyses.associated with perceptions of influence, ine whether the relationship between listening communication and influence, we conducted a multiple regression analysis, in which we influence simultaneously on ratings of their expressive communication and listening. A summary of this analysis is reported in Table importance, and in support of Heven when we controlled for expressive communication ( Following Aiken and West (1991), the independecommunication were mean-centered to minimize the impact of multicollinearity. We then conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, in which influence was regressed on listening and expressive communication in Step 1, and the interactiexpressive communication was added ) To illustrat

22 e the nature of the interaction effect a
e the nature of the interaction effect and West (1991), in which we generated the above the mean) and at a low level of expressive communication (one below the mean). As can be seen in Figure 2, listening was more positively related to simple slope analyses, which showed that listening was more strongly related to influence when expressive communication was high ((271) = 6.57, p )hen it was low ( We assessed whether listening would be more positively related to influence among those and West (1991), each of the independent variables was mean-centered to minimize the impact of multicollinearity. We also controlled for expressive communication in this analysis. We then conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, in which influence was regressed on listening, narcissism and expressive communicati listening and narcissism was added in Step 2. As can be seen in Table 5,

23 the interaction effect Once again, to i
the interaction effect Once again, to illustrate the nature of the interaction effect we followed the procedures recommended by Aiken and West (1991), in which ce at a high level of narcissism (one mean) and at a low level of narcissism (one below the mean). As can be seen in Figure 3, and consistent with Hypothesis 3, listening was more positively related to influence among those who were high rather than low in narcissism. The latter assertion was further supported by the that listening was moinfluence when narcissism was high (positive relationship between listening and influence was stronger when expressive communication was relatively high. Furthermore, relationship between listening and influence was stronger among those higher in dispositional narcissism. We conducted a subsidiary analysis communication associated with dispositional narcissism (rather than dispositional narc

24 issism per se) that interacted with list
issism per se) that interacted with listening to predict infln than their less narcissistic counterparts; the correlational fluential, because they presumably are effective at both the expressive and receptive aspects of communication. In a test of mediated moderation (i.e., that it was the expressive communication associated with narcissism that interacted with listening to predict infld the main effects of listening, expressive communication, and narcissism. In the x narcissism and listening x expressive communication) were entered simultaneously. The results communication continued to be remained the same: listening was more positively related to influence when expressive communication was relatively high. In contrast, narcissism was no longer significant (rcissism showed that the multaneously entered (or controlled for) the y because they provide insight into listening intera

25 cted with narcissism to predict influenc
cted with narcissism to predict influence. That is, listening interacted with narcissism because of narcissism’s link with exening accounted for the relatioreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability—and influence, drawing on the mediat(1986). We also controlled for expressive communi experience (the independent variable) was a significant predictor of inhesized mediator) also was a significant predictor of influence; (3) Openness to experience was a significant preden listening was added to the model, whereas and influence remained highly significant; and (5) The Sobel test showed that the relationship between openness to experience and influence was significantly lower when listening was controlled, relative to when it was not, findings support Hypothesis 4A: Listening mediated the relationship between openness to influence remained significant even when liste mediated t

26 he relationship between openness to expe
he relationship between openness to experience and influence. : (1) Agreeableness was a significant stening also was a significant predictor of influence; (3) Agreeableness was a significant predictor of listening; (4) The relationship between agreeableness and influence decreased when listening was added to the model, whereas the relationship between listening and influence remashowed that the relationship between agreeableness and influence was significantly lower when lative to when it was not, support Hypothesis 4B: listening mediated the reGiven that the relationship between agreeableness and influence remained significant even when partially mediated the relationship between agreeableness and influence. Conscientiousness. (2) Listening also was a significant predictor of influence; (3) Conscientiousness was a significant predictor of listening; (4) The relationship between

27 conscientiousness and influence became
conscientiousness and influence became non-significant when listening was added to the model, whereas the relationship between listening and influence remainficant; and (5) The Sobel test showed that the relationship between conscientiousness and influence was ontrolled, relative to when it was not, ening mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and influence became non-signifisaid that listening fully mediated the relationship between As shown in Figure 4, we found that: (1) Emotional stability was a (2) Listening also was a significant predictor of influence; (3) Emotional stability was a significant predictor of listening; (4) The relationship between emotional stability and influence decreased when listening was added to the model, whereas the relationship between listening and influence rematween emotional stability and inrelative to when it was not, support Hypothes

28 is 4D: Listening mediated the otional st
is 4D: Listening mediated the otional stability and influence. Given that the relationship between emotional stability and influence remained partiallymediated the relationship between emotional stability and influence.Testing the Mediating Role of Expressive Communication for the relationship between extraversion and inand Kenny (1986). We also controindependent variable) was positivelcommunication (the hypothesized mediator) also was positively related to influence; (3) Extraversion was positively related to expressive communication; (4) The relationship between extraversion and influence decreased when expressive communication was added to the model, whereas the relationship between expressive communication and influence remained highly st showed that the relationsinfluence was significantly lower when expressicommunication mediated the relationship betweeremained significant ev

29 en when expressive oncluded that express
en when expressive oncluded that expressive communication mediated the relationship between were supported. In support of Hypothesis 1 listening accounted for unique variance in influence, ening interacted with expressive communication to predict influence, such that the positive relationship between listening and influence was positive relationship between listening and influence was stronger among those relatively high in dispositional narcissism. Moreover, a subsidiad that the reason why dispositional narcissism moderated the relationship between listening and influence was because dispositional narcissism was positively related to expressive communicatBig Five dimensions (einfluence was mediated by listening, in whole or in part. Finally, as specified in Hypothesis 5, expressive communication (partially) mediated the relationship between extraversion and The idea that interpers

30 onal communication is important to influ
onal communication is important to influence is hardly new. Yet, the balance of research has focused considerably more on one form of communication (organizational members’ expressive behaviors)anizational members’ receptive behaviors). We took as our starting point the notion that organizational members’ listening tendencies will be positively related to their influence, via informational and relational mechanisms. From there, we examined a number of more nuanced questions designed to deepen our understanding of the positive relationship between listening and influence. For instance, we examined several moderating influences on the positive relationship between listening and communication and dispositional narcissism. Moreover, the results of the subsidiary analysis narcissism and expressive communication. We also found that listening may act as a mediator of the Big Five personalit

31 y dimensresearch has shown that these sa
y dimensresearch has shown that these same four dime positions in which effectiveness rests on the ability to influence, namely, managers (Judge et al., gardless of whether people formally occupy management positions the same four dimensions are positively related to how influential they are, and furthermore, that listening mediated thdimensions and influence, in whole or in part. te to several other literatures s the concept of narcissism has long been of interest to clinical and personaempirical studies have examined the workplace consequences of narcissism, in particular, the relationshimembers’ narcissism and their influence (e.g., Judgeto the view of some the predominantly negative managerial and suggest that narcissism is notple, narcissism was negatively both relationships were rather modest. Moreover, narcissism was associated with higher or lower influence, depending on org

32 anizational members’Figure 3, when organ
anizational members’Figure 3, when organizational members were rated as good listeners, narcissism was positively organizational members were not seen as good listeners, narcissism was inverselbody of research examining the relationship between organizational members’ personality (as that all of the Big Five personality dimensions were significantly related to managerial d to managerial effectiveness, a key component of which is influence, an important next step is to delineate the factors that account for or mediate these relationships. We predicted and foopenness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability and influence were at least partly mediated by organizational members’ tendencision and influence was not mediorganizational members’ expressirsonality is related to people’sCapturing these mediators conceptually and empirically does not mean that a t

33 rait perspective is not valuable; on the
rait perspective is not valuable; on the contrary, such work would giorganizational life. ent study has a number of methodological and conceptual shortcomings. In acknowledging them, we simultaneously are identifying some t findings is open to question. For example, consider Hypothesis 1, which posited that listening will be positively related to organizational members’ influence (over organizational members’ listening represent the consequences rather than the determinants of eir group’s performance may reinterpret the group’s process, such that good performance l4A-4D move us somewhat closer ads to influence, rather than p between the two should be moremembers are relatively high in expressive communication (dispositional narcissism). Moreover, the mediational reasoning underlying Hypotheses 4A-4D is that four of the Big Five dimensions lead to or

34 ganizational members’ influence. Taken t
ganizational members’ influence. Taken together, the fact that Hd to organizational members’ inresearch in which listening is experimentally manipulated, or in which the consequences of internal validity of the present tifact of common methods bias. Most of our measures consisted of judgments from the same source, namely, people who had target person. Although the common methods explanation cannot be summarily dismissed, several findings render it less plausible. For example, it is not clear how common methods may explain why listening accounted for additional variance in influence over and above the impact of expressive communication. If the sidimensions (such as between each of expressive communication and listwere due to the commonality in how the dimensions were measur variance in influence. stems from the results associated with Hypothesis 3, which posited that narcissism woul

35 d moderate the relationship between list
d moderate the relationship between listening and influence. We offer this speculation for mmon methods were not and influence dimensions, the measure of narcissism came from the targets’ self-reports. Second, even if all of the measures came from the same source, it would be unclear how common methods would account for the fact that the relationship between some of the measures (judgments of organizational members’ listening and their influence) waamong those who were high rather than low in narcissism. For that matter, a similar argument counter to a common methods explanation may be offered aboutconstructs were measured via others’ reports, and yet listening and influence were more positively related when expressive communication was relatively high. We also conducted additional analyses to evaluate the extent to which the mediational tests in Hypotheses 4A-4D may have been tain

36 ted by common methodstwo randomly select
ted by common methodstwo randomly selected raters for listening, expressive communication and the Big Five and then on the measure of influence. In this way, the independent variables and mediaheses came from one source le of influence came from a We then reran Hypotheses 1, 4A-4D, and 5 because these were the analyses that could potentially be biased by common methods. The results of these additional analyses were consistent with what we ren methods were present. For example, the multiple regression analysis testing Hypothesis 1 revealed that listening continued influence over and above the effect of expressive communication With respect to the mediatimediated the relationship between eand that listening partiallyemotional stability and influence. Moreover,mediated the relationship between extraversion athese additional findings show that even when common methods are eliminated, th

37 e results are quite similar to what was
e results are quite similar to what was found when there was words, the presence of common methods does no directed towards the measures developed explicitly for this study, namely listening, expressive communicatmay have proven validity, and their use may leother hand, developing new items may em. For example, in the present study we wanted to measure listening, expreswith specific behavioral measures. Future reexamining whether existing measures yield converging results. For example, transformational communication. The extent to which people believe that their o, 1993) seems similar to our notion of listening. To the extent that the present findings may be replicated with alternative measures of similar constructs, we will gain even greater confidence in their generality. For now, however, the fact cally-derived hypotheses (summarisupport provides encouraging evidence that the mso

38 me construct validity. Whereas the pr
me construct validity. Whereas the present study providesis likely to have more versus less of an effect on organizational members’ influence, future research should explore additional potential dispositional and situational moderators of the relationship between organizational members’ listening tendencies and their influence. ve the moderators in the present study, namely, that listening is positively related to influence via informational and relational mechanisms, may ng influences. Furthermore, focuon the communicator, we also speculate that listening may be more important to (and hence will have more of an impact on) individuals with more egalitarian that the well-established tendency for employees power distance (Hofstede, 1980). Employees lower in power distance, who presumably expected shown to respond much more positively when they had higher levels of voice. In contrast

39 , among employees with high power distan
, among employees with high power distancemaking had much less of an influence on their work attitudes and behaviors. In a similar vein, it may be that the effect of listening on influence influence expect to be listened to. Relatedly, future research should examine whether there are other limits to the example, prior researchwho allow “too much” voice in group decision making may be evaluated less positively under ems plausible that the impact of listening on influence may reach a point of diminishing returns. Furthermore, it would be important to splistening are accounted for by informational and relational mechanisms. The present study was based on prior theory and research from a variety of literatures which suggested that listening makes people more effective for informational reasons (i.e., by heightening their ability to be ing others’ motivation to be needed to delineate mo

40 re precismechanisms in accounting for th
re precismechanisms in accounting for the positive consequences of being a good listener. Practical Implications The present study also has a number of prmeasure of listening we were able to delineate some of the specific behaviors that comprise ganizational members that they “need to be good what it means to be a good listener. The items used to measure listening referred to specifiprograms could emphasize the development of thpredictive of influence. may be difficult to change (e.g., charisma), listening may be somewhat more malleable. Greenberg (2006) recently showed that employees whose managers underwent training in interactional fairness (which included listening) were significantly less stressed than their counterparts whose managers haganizational members may have much to gain by improving their listening skills. Organizations may likewise benefit from measuring, develop

41 ing back on the listening measures ing m
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44 rsonality to self- and leadership, and t
rsonality to self- and leadership, and task and contextual performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91Kernis, M. H., & Sun, C. (1994). Narcissism e; selected theoretical papers Plenum. the paradoxes of narcissism: A dynamic self Morrison, E. W., & Milliken, F. J. (2000). Orgadevelopment in a pluralistic world. Academy of Management Review, 25ait self-enhancement: A mixed blessing? you have too much of a good thing? The limits of voice for improving satisfaction with leaders. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25behavior, dominane, and the basiRidgeway, C. L., & Diekema, D. (1989). Dominance and collective hierarchy formation in male and female task groups. Rosenthal, S. A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. Schotter, A. (2003). Decision-making with naive advice. Sedikides, C., Rudich, E. A., Gregg, A. P., Kumashiro, M., & Rusbult, C. (2004). Are normal

45 naricissists psychologically healthy?: S
naricissists psychologically healthy?: Self-esteem matters. by re-evaluating what it means to have one's views "considered": Implications for third-party managers. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), (pp. 51-78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum e "causes" of performance: A geOrganizational Behavior and Human Extraversion and its positive emotional core. In R. Hogan, J. Handbook of personality psychologySan Diego, CA: Academic Press. Using advice from multiple sources to revise and improve judgments. 1996). Antecedents of influence outcomes. examined whether listening mediated the The relationship between influence with each of openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability was significant in separateanalyses showed that listening either partially or fully mediated the relationship between each of een in Table 2 the four traits were themselves significantly (albeit modestl

46 y) related to one anotaccounted for uniq
y) related to one anotaccounted for unique variance in influence, simultaneously. Agreeableness was no longer related to influence but the other three dimensions ificant at the .05 level and openness and emotional stability significant at the .01 level. We then added listening as an additional predictor, to see if doing so the three traits that continued all three variables. The results of Sobel tests showed that the reduction at )otional stability (To examine whether listening had a curvilinear relationship wmodel including the squared term of listening as Listening and Influence 40 coefficient for the squared term would have indi Descriptive Statistics for Inter-rater Agreement Indices WG(J) ADM(J)M SD M SD 1.

47 Influence .95 .08 .64 to 1.0 .82 .59
Influence .95 .08 .64 to 1.0 .82 .59 2. Listening .96 .07 .48 to 1.0 .66 .33 3. Expressive Communication .98 .02 .84 to 1.0 .73 .42 4. Openness .89 .13 .19 to 1.0 .63 .40 5. Agreeableness .86 .15 .22 to 1.0 .74 .44 6. Conscientiousness .89 .18 .13 to 1.0 .53 .43 7. Emotional Stability .83 .19 .12 to 1.0 .73 .48 8. Extraversion .83 .19 .13 to 1.0 .76 .48 9. Narcissism --- --- --- --- = 274. Narcissism is a self-rating. Variable Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. Influence 5.54 0.53 2. Listening 5.75 0.58 0.54** Communication 5.86 0.50 0.63** 0.51** 4. Agreeableness 5.66 0.91 0.36** 0.57** 0.16** 5. Openness 6.05 0.65 0.40** 0.29** 0.39** 0.30** 6. Conscientiousness 6.26 0.73 0.38** 0.42** 0.37** 0.36** 0.26** .58 7. Emotion

48 al Stability 5.81 0.89 0.49** 0.56** 0.4
al Stability 5.81 0.89 0.49** 0.56** 0.42** 0.51** 0.28** 0.44** .75 8. Extraversion 5.46 1.11 0.23** -0.07 0.27** 0.00 0.33** -0.03 -0.08 9. Narcissism 0.37 0.18 0.02 -0.12* 0.13* -0.16** 0.05 -0.11 -0.14* 0.23** A scale alpha cannot be computed for narcissism, because it is a binary measure. Predictors of Influence Step 1 0.40 Expressive Communication 0.68 0.05 0.63** Step 2 0.47 0.07** Expressive Communication 0.51 0.06 0.48** Listening 0.27 0.05 0.30** Note. N = 274. p their Interaction as Predictors of Influence Step 1 0.47 Listening .27 .05 .30** Expressive Communication .51 .06 .48** Step 2 0.49 0.02** Listening .29 .05 .31** Expressive Communication .53 .05 .50** .19 .06 .14** Note. N = 274. p

49 Step 1 0.44
Step 1 0.44 Listening 0.28 0.05 0.32** Narcissism 0.02 0.15 0.01 Expressive Communication 0.48 0.06 0.44** Step 2 0.45 0.01* Listening 0.27 0.05 0.30** Narcissism 0.03 0.15 0.01 Expressive Communication 0.49 0.06 0.45** Listening x Narcissism 0.48 0.23 0.10* Note. N = 263. p p Listening and Influence 46 Figure 1. Summary of Relationships Set Forth in Hypotheses 1-5 Openness Agreeableness Listening Influence Expressivecommunication Narcissism H1: Listening will predict influence controlling for expressive communicationH3: The positive relationship between listening and influence will be greater among those higher in narcissismH4: Listening will at least partially mediate the link between four of the Big 5 (openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability) and infl

50 uence Conscientiousness EmotionalStabili
uence Conscientiousness EmotionalStability Extraversion H5: Expressive communication will at least partially mediate the link between extraversion and influence H2: The positive relationship between listening and influence will be greater among those higher in expressive communication The Interactive Effect of Listening 5.05.25.45.65.86.06.2Low ListeningHigh ListeningInfluence High Expressive Communication Low Expressive Communication . The Interactive Effect of Listening and Narcissism on Influence. 4.55.05.56.06.5Low ListeningHigh ListeningListeningInfluenc High Narcissism Low Narcissism Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability) and Influence. With listening:= .15, (271) = 3.24, 01With openness:= .28, (271) = 5.50, 1 Openness Listening Influence Without listening:= .40, (273) = 7.24, 01Without openness:= .30, (272) = 5.79, 01= .29, (273) = 4.91, 01 With liste

51 ning:= .17, (271) = 3.12, 01With agreeab
ning:= .17, (271) = 3.12, 01With agreeableness:= .19, (271) = 3.03, 01 Agreeableness Listening Influence Without listening:= .36, (273) = 6.28, 01Without agreeableness:= .30, (272) = 5.79, 01= .57, (273) = 11.38, 01 With listening:= .09, (271) = 1.88, With conscientiousness:(271) = 5.04, 01 Conscientiousness Listening Influence Without listening:= .38, (273) = 6.68, Without conscientiousness:(272) = 5.79, 01= .42, (273) = 7.55, 01 With listening:= .18, (271) = 3.35, 01With emotional stability:= .21, (271) = 3.80, 01 EmotionalStability Listening Influence Without listening:= .49, (273) = 9.25, 01Without emotional stability:= .30, (272) = 5.79, 01= .56, (273) = 11.22, 01 of the Relationship Between Extraversion With expressive communication:= .14, (271) = 2.94, 01With extraversion:= .42, (271) = 7.80, 01 Extraversion ExpressiveCommunication Influence Without expressive communication:=

52 .23, (273) = 3.85, 01Without extraversio
.23, (273) = 3.85, 01Without extraversion:= .48, (272) = 9.34, 01= .27, (273) = 4.60, 01 Influence Items S/he is able to build effective working reS/he fails to direct and steer meetiListening Items When someone else is speaking, s/he interrupts and/or shows impatience (reverse-coded) open up, elaborate, and share information S/he listens effectively to criticism and alternative points of view When someone is speaking, s/he tends to drift off, appearing distr(reverse-coded) Expressive Communication Items 1. When making a point, s/he is2. S/he is able to use vivid images and compelling logic and facts to support an argument 3. S/he is unable to communicate effectively in4. When communicating with othersS/he does not produce well-written work and communications, including letters and email (reverse-coded) The substance of his/her messages gets lost because of how they are communica