| This dissertation is designed to ascertain the relationship between social network analysis and the personality attributes of network members (the "actors") relative to their position in a social network. Participants were members of various private firms and public organizations.;This research focuses on the types of social networks that exist within organizations, the attributes of the actors in these social networks, how personality attributes might affect how the network functions. The questions explore network centrality and diversity of relationships, and whether an actor's topological position in a social network has any relationship to distinctive personality attributes or characteristics.;The data for this research comes from an array of primary and secondary sources, including the collection of data via a questionnaire instrument. The questionnaire was designed to collect network and personality characteristic data, as well as textual self descriptions from each participant. Using a combination of social network analysis and personality trait analysis, this research shows, relative to specific locations in a social network, whether there are typical ascertainable and definitive personality attribute-based patterns of communication. By understanding these patterns, organizations can design strategies to help improve their knowledge sharing processes, thereby situating these groups into a stronger position to facilitate the use of social networks as an enterprise-level communication strategy. The findings show some relationship between personality traits and locations on social network topologies, although not as pronounced as expected and with some unexpected results.;Keywords: Social Network Analysis, Centrality, Relationships, Five Factor Model, Personality Traits, Networks, Nodes, Eigenvector, Betweeness... |
