Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior

In recent years, evolutionary psychology and behavioral 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 behavior, and consequences of mismatch between these mechanisms and novel environments-studies that apply these perspectives on social behavior to organizations remain relatively rare. The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior brings together contributors who shed light on the potential that behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology offer for studies of organizational behavior. In addition to examining the extant literature integrating these disciplines and organizational behavior, the book reconsiders a wide range of topics through the lens of biology within organizational behavior, 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 behavior.

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, "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

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.