Authentic Moral Leadership, Attributed Charisma, and Cynicism about Change in the Context of a Presidential Election: Understanding the Moderating Role of Crisis Perceptions

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The current study examines authentic moral leadership in the setting of a U.S. presidential election, with the Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger in 2012. Pre and post-election data were collected yielding 432 matched responses. Perceptions of authentic moral leadership were positively related to attributions of charisma, with crisis perceptions having a moderating effect. Pre-election perceptions of the incumbent’s authentic moral leadership had a negative effect on cynicism about change, and a negative indirect effect on post-election cynicism about change, through pre-election attributions of charisma. The implications of the research for understanding authentic moral leadership and attributed charisma are discussed.