Mechanisms of Leadership

Question 1

Social Learning Theory

Answer 1

We learn by observing and imitating other people’s behavior. According to Albert Bandura people can learn new information by watching other people. This is known as observational learning or learning from observing a role model

Question 2

Two types of social/observational learning

Answer 2

Inhibition: a response that you would normally in act, but you learn to inhibit that particular response. Perhaps because you have seen someone doing that and getting a negative response.

Disinhibition: behavior that you would normally withhold, but you observe somebody else engaging in that behavior, and that goes well for them, then behavior that you would normally inhibit gets disinhibited.

Question 3

Necessary conditions for social learning to occur

Answer 3

Attention: need to be able to notice the behavior of others to use as a model for our own behavior.
Retention: how well the behavior is remembered.
Reproduction: the ability to perform the behavior, that the model has demonstrated.
Motivation: The will to perform the behavior

Question 4

Social learning and cultural transmission

Answer 4

Social learning is a powerful mechanism for cultural transmission. Employees whose supervisor is perceived to be an ethical leader are more willing to engage in proactive helpful behavior such as reporting problems to management.

Question 5

Social Identity Theory

Answer 5

Social identity theory is how people relate to one another in groups or teams.

Question 6

Social Identity

Answer 6

Social Identity is a person’s sense of who they are, based on their group membership(s).

Groups give us a sense of social identity and a sense of belonging to the social world.

Question 7

Salient Social Identity

Answer 7

The clarity of people knowing who they are based on how their group is. When social identity is salient, people act as representatives of a group rather than just individuals.

Question 8

Social categorization

Answer 8

The act of putting oneself and others into categories.
In-groups: Yours
Out-groups: Others

Question 9

Social Identification

Answer 9

When you absorb the culture, norms, values of your in-group. You then notice the differences between people in your in-groups versus out-group. The group becomes an important part of your social identity

Question 10

Social comparison

Answer 10

To boost self-esteem, one starts to think of their in-group as better than and superior to their out-group. This is also called positive distinctiveness.

Question 11

How do you increase cohesiveness between groups within one organization?

Answer 11

Shared goals that are important for both groups are a way to reduce the barriers between the groups. It is important that everyone in the company is fighting for the same goals and no one feels better than others.

Question 12

What impacts leadership effectiveness

Answer 12

Leadership effectiveness rests on the extent to which the leader is prototypical of the group (i.e. representative of the group’s identity) and engages in group-oriented behavior (i.e. behavior perceived to benefit the group). Social identity salience is the moderator for the effect of leaders’ prototypicality on followers’ endorsement (goedkeuring) of leaders.

When both social identity salience and leader prototypicality are high, support for the leader will also be high.

Question 13

What is the reciprocity principle

Answer 13

Reciprocity is the desire to give back ‘in kind’ when you receive an unexpected gift > number one principle of persuasion.

People are better off with reciprocity than they would be without reciprocity if they both use it in the right way. it stimulates collaboration between people.

Question 14

What is Percieved organizational Support (PoS)

Answer 14

The reciprocity principle relates to leader/follower dynamics as The degree to which employees believe that their organization values their contributions, cares about their well-being, and fulfills socio-emotional needs.

Question 15

Social Exchange Theory

Answer 15

Social interaction is shaped by a reciprocal exchange of reward, both

Question 16

Leader member Exchange (LMX)

Answer 16

The LMX theroy conceives leadership as a process that is focused on the interactions between leader and subordinates.

LMX focuses on the individuals’ interactive relationship(s).

Question 17

What is the difference between Ingroup and outgroup according to LMX

Answer 17

• Ingroup: Special relationship in which more privileges, preference, and access to resources are given in exchange for going “above and beyond” routine duties
• Outgroup: Typically do the minimum amount of work and in exchange are given low levels of access to resources and decision making.

Question 18

What are the relationship phases in LMX?

Answer 18

• Stranger phase: Roles are highly scripted, and most exchanges are based on organizational rules and heirarchies. There is little trust at play.
• Acquaintance phase: Leader offers subordinate improved benefits. Attempting to “feel out”the subordinate and see what they are motivated by. Trust developts. Subordinates begin to focus less on self-interest and more on group goals.
• Partnership phase: Mutual and high-quality exchanges. Favors are provided for each other under mutual trust. Subordinates focus on group goals and moves beyond self-interest.

Question 19

What are the core assumptions for social exchange theory

Answer 19

1. Social actors engage in activities as a means of obtaining desired goals.
2. All social activities involve some cost to the actor - time, energy, other resources.
3. Social actors seek to economize their activities by keeping costs below rewards.

Question 20

What are the six types of social rewards (Social exchange theory)

Answer 20

• Personal attraction
• Social acceptance
• Social approval
• Instrumental services
• Respect/prestige
• Compliance/power

Question 21

Three types of social costs (Social exchange theory)

Answer 21

• Investment in time and effort to develop skills that will be used to reward others
• Direct costs in the form of a resource given to another in exchange for something else
• Opportunity costs or the loss of rewards which would have been available elsewhere

Question 22

Social exchange and Power Dynamics

Answer 22

• Power is the inverse of dependency
• An individual is able to exercise power over others when he/she alone is able to supply needed rewards to them.
• If others are unable to get what they need from another source, and if they are unable to offer rewards themselves, they become dependent.
• In short, power results from an unequal exchange stemming from an individual’s or group’s monopoly over the desired outcome.

Question 23

Implications of Social Exchange on Leadership

Answer 23

• Reciprocal social exchange creates trust and social bonds
• if subordinates collectively agree that their superior uses power generously, they will legitimate the leader’s power.
• Legitimate power is necessary for a stable organization.
• Unilateral services create power and status differences
• The unfair use of power leads to social disapproval
• If subordinates collectively experience the unfair use of power and opposition movement will develop.

Question 24

What is Self-efficacy?

Answer 24

Self-Efficacy: A personal judgment of “how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations.”

Our self-efficacy determines whether we think we can meet the challenges necessary and how long we will persevere in the face of obstacles.

Question 25

What are the four factors that affect Self-Efficacy?

Answer 25

1. Performance Outcomes: Positive and negative experiences can influence the ability of an individual to perform a given task. If one has performed well at a task previously, he or she is likely to feel competent and perform well at a similarly associated task.
2. Vicarious Experiences: People can develop high or low self-efficacy vicariously through other people’s performances. A person can watch another perform and then compare their competence with the other individual’s competence.
3. Verbal Persuasion: Self-efficacy is influenced by encouragement and discouragement pertaining to an individual’s performance or capacity to perform.
4. Physiological Feedback: People experience sensations from their body and how they perceive this emotional arousal influences their beliefs of self-efficacy.

Question 26

What is psychological safety?

Answer 26

Psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking - and models the effects of team psychological safety and team efficacy together on learning and performance in organizational work teams.

Question 27

What is the psychological danger?

Answer 27

The psychological danger is a negative spiral that leads to the fear of admitting mistakes, blaming others, leading to less sharing of different views and the common knowledge effect.

Question 28

What is the effect of Perceived organizational support?

Answer 28

Perceived organizational support was a stronger correlate of organizational commitment than leader-member exchange. Conversely, leader-member exchange. Conversely, leader-member exchange was more highly related to citizenship than perceived organizational support. Where commitment to the company is largely driven by perceptions that the organization is supportive.

Question 29

What is the effect of Leader-member exchange?

Answer 29

The more that relationships or exchanges between supervisors and subordinates are based on mutual trust and loyalty, interpersonal affection, and respect for each other, the better the subordinate’s performance in terms of expected and “extra” or citizenship behaviors.