Do Talkers Always Rule? Individual Differences and Leadership Perceptions in Virtual Teams

Although research related to individual differences has played an important role in understanding why individuals are perceived as leaders in traditional contexts, much less is known about how individual difference variables impact leader perceptions in a virtual environment. The current study attempts to shed light on this issue by investigating the effects of several “cornerstone” individual difference variables (the Big 5 personality factors of Extraversion and Conscientiousness, as well as general mental ability), along with two less studied constructs (communication apprehension [CA] and text-based communication ability [TBCA]) on leadership perceptions in virtual teams. In this paper, we propose and test a theoretical model whereby the effects of these individual difference variables on leadership perceptions are mediated through two related, yet different, communication variables: quantity of communication and quality of communication. The results of an experiment with 84 four-person teams in a simulated top management team exercise suggest that communication clearly matters in determining leader perceptions, and that both CA and TBCA also have significant relationships with perceived leadership that are partially mediated through aspects of communication.