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In recent years, evolutionary psychology and behavioural genetics have emerged as prominent theoretical perspectives within the social sciences. Yet despite broad levels of commonality between the disciplines – including an emphasis on adaptation, evolved mechanisms that guide behaviour, and consequences of the mismatch between these mechanisms and novel environments – studies that apply these perspectives on social behaviour to organizations remain relatively rare.
The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior brings together contributors who shed light on the potential that behavioural genetics and evolutionary psychology offer for studies of organizational behaviour. In addition to examining the extant literature integrating these disciplines and organizational behaviour, The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior reconsiders a wide range of topics through the lens of biology within organizational behaviour, including decision-making, leadership and hierarchy, goals and collective action, and individual difference. Contributions also explore new areas of potential application and provide a critical assessment of the challenges that lie ahead. With accessible insights for scholars and practitioners, The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior marks a promising step forward in what is increasingly perceived to be an underdeveloped area of organizational behaviour.
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Biology and Organizational Behavior / Stephen M. Colarelli and Richard D. Arvey
Genetics, Individual Differences, and Work Behavior
2. Progress in Molecular Genetics and Its Potential Implications in Organizational Behavior Research / Zhaoli Song, Wendong Li, and Nan Wang
3. Genetic Influences on Attitudes, Behaviors, and Emotions in the Workplace / Remus Ilies and Nikolaos Dimotakis
4. The Biological Basis of Entrepreneurship / Scott Shane and Nicos Nicolaou
5. Fitness, Adaptation, and Survival: The Role of Socio-Anthropic Characteristics, Personality, and Intelligence in Work Behavior / Timothy A. Judge and Robert Hogan
Physiology and Organizational Behavior
6. Neurobiological Systems: Implications for Organizational Behavior / Jayanth Narayanan and Smrithi Prasad
7. Physiological Functioning and Employee Health in Organizations / Zhen Zhang and Michael J. Zyphur
Evolution and Organization
8. The Service-for-Prestige Theory of Leader-Follower Relations: A Review of the Evolutionary Psychology and Anthropology Literatures / Michael E. Price and Mark Van Vugt
9. Evolved Decision Makers in Organizations / Peter DeScioli, Robert Kurzban, and Peter M. Todd
10. Primal Business: Evolution, Kinship, and the Family Firm / Nigel Nicholson
11. Evolution and Cooperation: Implications for Organizational Behavior and Management Theory / Roderick E. White and Barbara Decker Pierce
Challenges Ahead
12. Biology, Evolution, and Organization: Promises and Challenges in Building the Foundations / Glenn R. Carroll and Kieran O’Connor
Contributors
Index
Stephen M. Colarelli is professor of psychology at Central Michigan University and the author of No Best Way: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Resource Management
Richard D. Arvey is head of the Department of Management and Organization at the National University of Singapore.
"In any important new research area, the first comprehensive book on the subject stands alone, and that is the case with this book. At a time when the standard social science model with its exclusively environmental assumptions is increasingly being challenged by new research findings demonstrating biological influences on human behavior, this book is unique in summarizing virtually all the new research."
– Frank L. Schmidt, University of Iowa
"Organizations are made of people, and people were made by natural selection to function in small groups. This book fills a giant gap in the study of organizational behavior, and it brings readers up to speed on current thinking about evolution and genetics. The chapters are lively and accessible. We have needed this book for a long time."
– Jonathan Haidt, New York University Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
“This impressive volume showcases the best of cutting-edge science for how biology informs organizational behavior. The book highlights useful insights for both path-shaping researchers and managers.”
– Vladas Griskevicius, University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, author of The Rational Animal
