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Theories on boundaryless and protean careers suggest that interpersonal relations are an effective means to self-manage careers (e.g. [1] Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; [14] Briscoe et al. 2006; [31] Hall, 1996, [32] 2004; [29] Gunz and Peiperl, 2007; [58] Sullivan and Baruch, 2009) and this has sparked interest in how relationships at work impact individual careers (e.g. [34] Higgins and Kram, 2001; [50] Ragins and Kram, 2007; [55] Seibert et al. , 2001; [56] Shortland, 2011; [59] Tams and Arthur, 2010; [61] Van Emmerik et al. , 2006). One effective strategy to manage one's career is networking, which refers to developing and maintaining personal relationships in order to facilitate the exchange of work related resources ([24] Forret and Dougherty, 2001; [49] Power, 2010; [68] Wolff and Moser, 2010). Studies show that networking is positively related to a host of vocational outcomes, for example, career success ([25] Forret and Dougherty, 2004; [67] Wolff and Moser, 2009), job search ([28] Granovetter, 1973; [62] Van Hoye et al. , 2009; [63] Wanberg et al. , 2000), and job performance ([60] Thompson, 2005).
While a large number of studies have focused on the consequences of networking, we know considerably less about the antecedents of networking behaviors, such as individual dispositions or job characteristics ([24] Forret and Dougherty, 2001). This study examines the relationship between personality and networking. Personality is an important predictor of work outcomes such as work performance (e.g. [6] Barrick and Mount, 2005) and career success ([46] Ng et al. , 2005), and also of work behaviors such as career strategies ([30] Guthrie et al. , 1998) and influence tactics ([17] Cable and Judge, 2003). Although some studies have examined the relation between personality and networking, a comprehensive theoretical outline is lacking as prior research has mostly examined a piecemeal collection of personality traits or only specific networking behaviors ([24] Forret and Dougherty, 2001; [62] Van Hoye et al. , 2009; [63] Wanberg et al. , 2000).
In the present study, we outline an integrative theoretical framework of the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM or the "Big Five," [27] Goldberg, 1990) and networking. Specifically, we propose linkages between personality and networking behaviors on two levels. First, on a general level, we propose that the...