When People Build Networks That Hurt Their Performance: Structural Holes, Cognitive Style, and the Unintended Consequences of Person–Network Fit
研究揭示适应者（偏好常规方案）在跨越结构洞时绩效最佳，却系统性地回避构建此类关系；而创新者（偏好突破常规）从结构洞中获益甚微甚至受损，却倾向于不断搭建新桥接关系。通过随机纵向田野实验验证了这一反直觉假设，解释了为何人们可能构建损害自身绩效的网络。
Extant research shows that individual cognitive style affects whether employees benefit most from a brokering or a dense network. But do people build the network structure in which they perform best? We address this question by advancing a novel 2-stage explanatory model that explicitly disentangles the network formation process from its performance effects. We hypothesize that Adaptors (i.e., individuals inclined to focus on implementable solutions through commonly accepted and well-defined approaches) perform best when their network spans structural holes. Yet, these same individuals systematically forego opportunities to build relations across structural holes. By contrast, Innovators (i.e., individuals inclined to focus on envisioning creative solutions that break away with established approaches) draw no or even negative performance returns from structural holes. Nevertheless, their inclination is to build ever-new bridging relations. We test and find support for this counterintuitive hypothesis through a randomized longitudinal field experiment enabling us to disentangle empirically both stages of our theorized process model. Our findings help illuminate why people may build networks that hurt their performance, shed a new light on the role of individual cognitive style in shaping network advantage, and bear concrete implications for organizations aiming to leverage networks to enhance employees’ performance.