Tuesday, 9 October 2012

When modesty wins: Impression management through modesty, political skill, and career success – a two-study investigation

Gerhard Blickle, Corinna Diekmann, Paula B. Schneider, and Yvonne Kalthöfer (University of Bonn, Germany) and James K. Summers (Bradley University, Peoria, IL, USA) published in European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology Volume 21 Number 6 (December 2012)

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of employees’ upward self-presentation through modesty and political skill on their subsequent career success.

Study 1 used a predictive design over a 3 year period with 141 employees, controlling for age, gender, and self-esteem. Political skill positively moderated the relationship between employees' upward modesty and career success (attained position, career satisfaction) after 3 years.

Study 2 (n = 132 employees) provided construct validation, demonstrating high discriminant validity of the impression management through modesty scale used in Study 1 with a trait-modesty scale, thus attenuating rival explanations of the findings in Study 1.

Implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.


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