Information‐seeking behaviour : Implicit and explicit strategies during the organizational entry process

Purpose – Despite more than three decades of studies, the role of information‐seeking during organizational socialization remains ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role played by information‐seeking behaviour during the organizational socialization process. Design/methodology/approach – Two different information‐seeking behaviors (implicit and explicit) were considered as mediators in the relationship between personality (extroversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness), organizational variables (LMX and POS) and organizational socialization outcomes (task mastery, social integration, role ambiguity, role conflict). Analysis carried out with SEM (structural equation modelling) on longitudinal survey data from 316 new police officers during their first six months of work showed interesting results regarding the two hypothesized mediators. Findings – In particular, the results show that the two information‐seeking behaviors seem to be related to different paths that link personality and social‐exchange variables to organizational outcomes. Originality/value – The paper's findings provide useful clues for a better understanding of the role of information‐seeking behaviour during the socialization process and highlight the importance of social support in predicting newcomer adjustment.