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Does leader-member similarity in prosocial personality affect informal learning transfer?

Doo Hun Lim (Department of Adult and Higher Education, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA)
Seung Won Yoon (Texas A&M University Commerce, Commerce, Texas, USA)
Jeeyon Paek (Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Yuri Choi (Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)

European Journal of Training and Development

ISSN: 2046-9012

Article publication date: 9 October 2019

Issue publication date: 21 April 2020

416

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine a structural relationship among agreeableness, similarity in agreeableness, positive affect and transfer of informal learning. Also, it investigates the mediating role of motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected by a survey via snowball sampling. In total, 742 respondents at 72 companies from multiple industries in South Korea participated. The authors performed exploratory confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling to test the research model and hypotheses.

Findings

The results showed that agreeableness made a dual impact as a personal and a relational trait enhancing the employee’s positive affect, and motivation to learn fully mediated the relationship between agreeableness and transfer of informal learning. This supports that prosocial personality traits enhance the employee’s motivation, learning and learning application. The full mediation of motivation to learn between positive affect and informal learning transfer emphasizes the importance of intentionality on the part of employees in informal learning contexts.

Originality/value

Organizational research pays little attention to social perspectives of informal learning (Varela et al., 2011). The results highlight that workplace informal learning is a socio-psychological process; thus, examining social and psychological factors together would be beneficial.

Keywords

Citation

Lim, D.H., Yoon, S.W., Paek, J. and Choi, Y. (2020), "Does leader-member similarity in prosocial personality affect informal learning transfer?", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 44 No. 2/3, pp. 121-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2019-0115

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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