Beyond genetic explanations for leadership: The moderating role of the social environment

Leadership role occupancy has recently been shown to have a genetic basis. We extend prior research by examining the moderating effects of the social environment during adolescence on the genetic influences on leadership role occupancy at work. Utilizing a sample of male twins (89 pairs of identical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organizational behavior and human decision processes 2009-11, Vol.110 (2), p.118-128
Main Authors: Zhang, Zhen, Ilies, Remus, Arvey, Richard D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescence
Experiments
Genetic factors
Genetics
Gene–environment interaction (G × E)
Leadership
Leadership role occupancy
Leadership role occupancy Nature versus nurture Gene-environment interaction (G × E)
Nature versus nurture
Occupancy
Occupational roles
Roles
Social environment
Social origin
Socioeconomic factors
Studies
Teenagers
Twins
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Summary:Leadership role occupancy has recently been shown to have a genetic basis. We extend prior research by examining the moderating effects of the social environment during adolescence on the genetic influences on leadership role occupancy at work. Utilizing a sample of male twins (89 pairs of identical and 54 pairs of fraternal twins, with a mean age of 36.5 years), we found that genetic influences are weaker for those reared in enriched environments (i.e., higher family socioeconomic status, higher perceived parental support, and lower perceived conflict with parents). For those twins who had relatively poorer social environments, genetic influences on leadership role occupancy are significantly greater. These results have important implications for early interventions on leadership development inside and outside organizations.
ISSN:0749-5978
1095-9920
DOI:10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.06.004