IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v124y2020i3d10.1007_s11192-020-03592-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Putting personality in context: determinants of research productivity and impact in political science

Author

Listed:
  • Paul A. Djupe

    (Denison University)

  • Kim Quaile Hill

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Amy Erica Smith

    (Iowa State University)

  • Anand E. Sokhey

    (University of Colorado at Boulder)

Abstract

Research on the determinants of scholarly productivity is flourishing, driven both by long-standing curiosity about its wide variation, and by recent concern over race and gender inequalities. Beyond standard structural and demographic determinants of research output, some studies point to the role of individual psychology. We contribute to scholarship on personality and productivity by showing not only that personality matters, but when and for whom. Using an original, representative study of faculty from one discipline, political science, we propose and test several hypotheses about the “Big Five” personality determinants of productivity, as gauged through counts of publications, H-index scores, and citations. Controlling for a large number of familiar determinants (e.g., race, gender, rank, and institutional incentives), we find that conscientiousness predicts productivity, but that its effects are conditioned by openness to experience. More precisely, we discover that these two personality traits have compensatory effects, such that openness to experience and conscientiousness each matter most in the absence of the other. In addition, personality has heterogeneous impacts on productivity across different contexts; conscientiousness more strongly affects scholarly output in research-oriented institutions, while collaboration reduces the penalty associated with lack of conscientiousness.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul A. Djupe & Kim Quaile Hill & Amy Erica Smith & Anand E. Sokhey, 2020. "Putting personality in context: determinants of research productivity and impact in political science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2279-2300, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03592-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03592-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-020-03592-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-020-03592-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kellie L. Maske & Garey C. Durden & Patricia E. Gaynor, 2003. "Determinants of Scholarly Productivity among Male and Female Economists," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(4), pages 555-564, October.
    2. Dion, Michelle L. & Sumner, Jane Lawrence & Mitchell, Sara McLaughlin, 2018. "Gendered Citation Patterns across Political Science and Social Science Methodology Fields," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 312-327, July.
    3. Maliniak, Daniel & Powers, Ryan & Walter, Barbara F., 2013. "The Gender Citation Gap in International Relations," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 889-922, October.
    4. repec:bla:ecorec:v:75:y:1999:i:230:p:256-67 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Herbert W. Marsh & John Hattie, 2002. "The Relation between Research Productivity and Teaching Effectiveness," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(5), pages 603-641, September.
    6. Simon Hix, 2004. "A Global Ranking of Political Science Departments," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 2(3), pages 293-313, September.
    7. Kevin J. Fox & Ross Milbourne, 1999. "What Determines Research Output of Academic Economists?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 75(3), pages 256-267, September.
    8. Mearsheimer, John J. & Walt, Stephen M., 2013. "Leaving Theory Behind: Why Hypothesis Testing Has Become Bad for IR," Working Paper Series rwp13-001, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    9. Kristof Witte & Nicky Rogge, 2010. "To publish or not to publish? On the aggregation and drivers of research performance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(3), pages 657-680, December.
    10. Ian MacGregor-Fors & Mark E Payton, 2013. "Contrasting Diversity Values: Statistical Inferences Based on Overlapping Confidence Intervals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-4, February.
    11. Martín-Martín, Alberto & Orduna-Malea, Enrique & Thelwall, Mike & Delgado López-Cózar, Emilio, 2018. "Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1160-1177.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lindahl, Jonas, 2023. "Conscientiousness predicts doctoral students’ research productivity," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    2. Iván Aranzales & Ho Fai Chan & Benno Torgler, 2023. "Finally! How time lapse in Nobel Prize reception affects emotionality in the Nobel Prize banquet speeches," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(7), pages 4089-4115, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. De Witte, Kristof & Rogge, Nicky & Cherchye, Laurens & Van Puyenbroeck, Tom, 2013. "Economies of scope in research and teaching: A non-parametric investigation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 305-314.
    2. Kristof Witte & Nicky Rogge, 2010. "To publish or not to publish? On the aggregation and drivers of research performance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(3), pages 657-680, December.
    3. Kanybek Nur-tegin & Sanjay Venugopalan & Jessica Young, 2020. "Teaching Load and Other Determinants of Research Output Among University Faculty," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 65(2), pages 300-311, October.
    4. Yining Wang & Qiang Wu & Liangyu Li, 2024. "Examining the influence of women scientists on scientific impact and novelty: insights from top business journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(6), pages 3517-3542, June.
    5. Mike Thelwall, 2020. "Female citation impact superiority 1996–2018 in six out of seven English‐speaking nations," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(8), pages 979-990, August.
    6. Fouad El Ouardighi & Konstantin Kogan & Radu Vranceanu, 2013. "Publish or Teach ? : Analysis of the Professor's Optimal Career Plan," Working Papers hal-00823514, HAL.
    7. Zhou, Sifan & Chai, Sen & Freeman, Richard B., 2024. "Gender homophily: In-group citation preferences and the gender disadvantage," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    8. Torsten Skov, 2020. "Unconscious Gender Bias in Academia: Scarcity of Empirical Evidence," Societies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, March.
    9. Allison C. Morgan & Nicholas LaBerge & Daniel B. Larremore & Mirta Galesic & Jennie E. Brand & Aaron Clauset, 2022. "Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(12), pages 1625-1633, December.
    10. Tahmooresnejad, Leila & Turkina, Ekaterina, 2022. "Female inventors over time: Factors affecting female Inventors’ innovation performance," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    11. Blakely Fender & Susan Taylor & Kimberly Burke, 2005. "Making the Big Leagues: Factors Contributing to Publication in Elite Economics Journals," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(1), pages 93-103, March.
    12. Marjolijn N. Wijnen & Jorg J. M. Massen & Mariska E. Kret, 2021. "Gender bias in the allocation of student grants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 5477-5488, July.
    13. Susan Washburn Taylor & Blakely Fox Fender & Kimberly Gladden Burke, 2006. "Unraveling the Academic Productivity of Economists: The Opportunity Costs of Teaching and Service," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(4), pages 846-859, April.
    14. repec:hal:journl:hal-00823514 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. S. Parker Singleton & Andrea I. Luppi & Robin L. Carhart-Harris & Josephine Cruzat & Leor Roseman & David J. Nutt & Gustavo Deco & Morten L. Kringelbach & Emmanuel A. Stamatakis & Amy Kuceyeski, 2022. "Receptor-informed network control theory links LSD and psilocybin to a flattening of the brain’s control energy landscape," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Raúl Ramos & Vicente Royuela & Jordi Suriñach, 2007. "An analysis of the determinants in Economics and Business publications by Spanish universities between 1994 and 2004," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 71(1), pages 117-144, April.
    17. Sabharwal, Meghna & Hu, Qian, 2013. "Participation in university-based research centers: Is it helping or hurting researchers?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1301-1311.
    18. Panagiotis Fotiadis & Matthew Cieslak & Xiaosong He & Lorenzo Caciagli & Mathieu Ouellet & Theodore D. Satterthwaite & Russell T. Shinohara & Dani S. Bassett, 2023. "Myelination and excitation-inhibition balance synergistically shape structure-function coupling across the human cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Ursula A. Tooley & Aidan Latham & Jeanette K. Kenley & Dimitrios Alexopoulos & Tara A. Smyser & Ashley N. Nielsen & Lisa Gorham & Barbara B. Warner & Joshua S. Shimony & Jeffrey J. Neil & Joan L. Luby, 2024. "Prenatal environment is associated with the pace of cortical network development over the first three years of life," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    20. Michelle L. Dion & Sara McLaughlin Mitchell & Jane L. Sumner, 2020. "Gender, seniority, and self-citation practices in political science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 1-28, October.
    21. Andrews, Mary E. & Mattan, Bradley D. & Richards, Keana & Moore-Berg, Samantha L. & Falk, Emily B., 2022. "Using first-person narratives about healthcare workers and people who are incarcerated to motivate helping behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; Personality; Coauthorship; H-index; Citation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03592-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.