Influence and personality: relationships among superdiffuser traits and big five traits

ABSTRACT

A survey was conducted (N = 632) to determine which of the Big Five personality traits tended to be related to each of the three traits specified in the superdiffuser model of diffusion and influence (connector, persuader, maven). The purpose of the study was to better understand the traits that form the core of the superdiffuser model of opinion leadership and to inform methods of recruiting superdiffusers for behavior change campaigns. The connector and persuader measures were both associated with extraversion, as predicted. Persuader scores were somewhat negatively associated with agreeableness and positively with openness. Six types of mavenness were tested and found to vary substantially in their associations with Big Five personality traits. Clothing mavenness was positively associated with neuroticism whereas sports mavenness was negatively associated. These results suggest that mavenness for one topic may exist in a different nomological network than mavenness for another.

KEYWORDS:

• Superdiffusers
• opinion leaders
• personality
• Big Five
• mavens

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

https://osf.io/6y9sh/?view_only=39089d32a2a244e7a2e83dfa9dd67480

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher J. Carpenter

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Christopher J. Carpenter (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2010) is a Professor in the Department of Communication at Western Illinois University. His research interests include opinion leadership, motivated reasoning, and social media. He is the co-author of “Critical Questions in Persuasion Research” from Cognella.

Tim Levine

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Timothy R. Levine (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1992) is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research interests include deception and social scientific research methods. He is the author of “Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception”, published by University of Alabama Press.

Kim B. Serota

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Kim B. Serota (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2011), is Lecturer in the Department of Management and Marketing at Oakland University. His research interests include interpersonal and marketing deception. Prior to completing his Ph.D. he was an executive in the survey research industry.

Tony Docan-Morgan

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Tony Docan-Morgan (Ph.D., University of Washington, 2008) is Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. His research interests include interpersonal relationships, public communication, and deception. He is the editor of “The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication”.