Final answer:
The assertion that high self-monitors are more involved in their jobs and better performers is false. Self-monitoring is a personality trait that does not guarantee job involvement or leadership emergence, as performance is influenced by several other factors like leadership needs and styles, and observational effects such as the Hawthorne effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that high self-monitors are more involved in their jobs, perform better, and are more likely to emerge as leaders is false. High self-monitoring alone does not entail greater job involvement or better performance. It is a personality trait that involves adjusting behavior to fit the surrounding social cues, which might not directly correlate with job involvement or performance. Various factors, such as an employee's need for leadership, the leadership style they respond to, and the presence of extrinsic motivation like the Hawthorne effect, can influence job performance and the likelihood of someone emerging as a leader.
Individual studies like the one by Atkins and Wood (2002) suggest that self and peer ratings might not always accurately assess performance, indicating that self-monitoring does not always align with better performance evaluations. The Hawthorne effect also denotes that an employee's performance may improve simply because they are being observed or interacted with by researchers or supervisors, rather than due to self-monitoring. Moreover, the suitability of a leadership style to an employee's personality, such as their degree of extroversion or their preference for autonomy, greatly influences their performance and potential to lead.