Leadership Flashcards
Define Leadership
Leadership is the process whereby an individual influences group members in a way that inspires to achieve the same goal that he/she has identified as important
What did early explanations of leadership focus on?
They focused on the notion that leaders possess certain personality traits that set them apart from individuals
Give an example of an early psychologist’s view on leaders
Francis Galton (1892) believed that leaders were born, not made
What describes a great leader
Great leaders are described as being charismatic or having social/emotional intelligence
Name a Study which criticises the Personality approach
Stogdill (1974)
What did Stogdill (1974) do?
Stogdill (1974) compared the characteristics of leaders to non-leaders.
What did Stogdill (1974) find?
A few charactersitics were correlated with leadership, but the relationships were weak e.g. intelligence, confidence, dominance
However…
the idea and belief that some individuals are better leaders than others due to possessing traits that make them more effective leaders is still argued.
Name the specific personality dimensions that we should focus on
The Big Five
Name the Big Five
Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Intellect
Name the Meta-Analysis investigating the Big 5
Judge et al. 2002
What did Judge et al. 2002 find
They found that the Big 5 have an overall correlation of 0.58 with leadership, with all traits as the best predictors of leadership
What is the 2nd Approach
Situational Approach
What does the Situational Approach argue
The Situational approach specifically argues that leadership is not found in the personality of an individual, but in the situation in which they find themselves in
What does the situational approach specifically states
The situational approach states that a leader is who best meets the requirements of the situation of the group’s current situation.
What did Sherif et al. state
Leader’s change when the situation changes. For example when groups move from peace to conflict or vice versa.
Name a study supporting the situational approach
Carter and Nixon (1949)
What did Nixon and Carter (1949) do?
They used children as participants, and put them into pairs to perform 3 different tasks - an intellectual, a clerical and a mechanical task.