Information technology is rapidly changing the context for leadership. Leaders today touch a worldwide audience which not only includes immediate and remote workers but also other stakeholders such as customers and the general population. The...
We will discuss two roads to legitimization of leaders. The “long-road” has to do with what the leader is really like in terms of intelligence, personality, or other factors that are important for leader success. This road is difficult to...
Social psychology; Intergroup relations; Bigotry; Tolerance; Prejudice; Hate
Dr. Todd Pittinsky’s research investigates the social psychology of positive intergroup attitudes: the conditions under which they develop, and how they shape the ways people think, feel, and behave. He discusses the three forms of his research:...
Social psychology; Terrorism; Uncertainty; Threat; Leadership; September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001; Counterterrorism
Arie Kruglansky presents his theoretical and empirical work on the need for assured knowledge and the central role it plays in human social behavior, on individual and group levels of analysis. The need for assured knowledge labeled more...
Social Psychology; Uncertainty; Threat; Patriotism; Leadership; Authoritarianism; Security; Terrorism; Immigration
Dr. Merolla discusses how different types of threats can make individuals come to feel anxious, insecure, and uncertain about the world around them. There are many studies predicting that citizens may exert control over such uncontrollable...
Leaders’ personality characteristics impact the relationship between leader-follower distance (or “span of control”) and relationship quality (Leader-Member Exchange, or LMX). Span of control is generally greater in larger groups, but...
In this presentation, we will re-visit Dr. Shamir’s 1995 work on social distance and charisma that suggested that charisma exists most easily when there is social distance between a leader and his or her followers. These arguments will be...