Followership and Personality

Personality characterizes a person’s usual way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. An individual’s behavior may fluctuate due to situational features, mood, or even long-term personal development, but over fairly long periods of time, his or her characteristic behavior can be described by a typical level. These descriptions can be organized into multiple frameworks, of which follow two important cases: the Big Five as an example of the bright side of personality (normal, adaptive behavior), and the Dark Triad as an example of the so-called dark side (moderately extreme behavior that may become maladaptive under stressful or unusual conditions). Both perspectives implicate personality in most interpersonal behavior, including responses to leaders and groups. In what follows, both perspectives are described and discussed within the context of ...