The Price of Prominence: How CEO Extraversion Influences Board Attributions and the Dismissal‐Performance Sensitivity
研究了CEO外向性如何影响董事会将绩效归因于个人，进而影响绩效下滑时的解雇概率，发现外向CEO在复杂行业和短任期董事会中更易因绩效差被解雇。
Abstract This study extends the socio‐cognitive perspective on CEO dismissal by examining how CEOs' observed levels of extraversion influence the dismissal‐performance sensitivity. Integrating attribution theory with research on personality and leadership, we theorize that more extraverted CEOs' prominence and perceived agency increase directors' attributions of performance to those individuals, thereby increasing their likelihood of dismissal when performance declines. We further posit that these dynamics are amplified in more complex industries and among shorter‐tenured boards, where causal ambiguity and limited contextual knowledge increase reliance on simplifying cues such as personality‐based attributions. Drawing on data from more than 4000 CEOs of S&P 1500 firms, and bolstered by supplemental tests from a vignette study, we find considerable support for our hypotheses. Our study extends attribution theory by identifying stable personality traits as enduring attributional cues that shape causal inferences in high‐stakes governance settings. In doing so, it also contributes to the upper echelons literature and research on CEO‐board dynamics by showing that executive traits influence not only firm actions and outcomes but also boards' collective evaluations of leadership.