Abstract
A common assumption is that good leaders are driven by a power motive that motivates them to influence others. However, leaders need to restrain themselves in social dilemmas where cooperation maximizes collective outcomes. We theorize that in social dilemmas, a desire for positive relationships (affiliation motive) is more beneficial than a power motive because it draws attention away from short-term self-interest towards understanding others. In a game of Settlers of Catan in the laboratory, we find that a functional variant of the affiliation motive relates to verbal encouragement of cooperation, to fewer occurrences of oil spills, to higher ratings of transformational leadership and, in a field survey, to fewer selfish business decisions. Furthermore, a dysfunctional variant of the power motive relates to two of three indicators of selfishness. Group members perceive selfish individuals as assuming leadership roles which indirectly relates to slightly higher ratings of transformational leadership. This pattern of evaluation may privilege men who, on average, show more selfish behaviour which can be partially attributed to their motives. Mere awareness of gender-based discrimination does not enable raters to circumvent this pattern of evaluation. This work suggests a need for interventions that increase appreciation of cooperative leaders.
Highlights
We find that the functional affiliation motive is related to fewer occurrences of oil spills, β = −0.25, P = 0.0009, whereas the dysfunctional power motive is related to more oil spills, β = 0.23, P = 0.0013 (Fig. 1b)
The present work examines the role of motives for cooperation and finds that a functional affiliation motive positively relates to cooperation and that a dysfunctional power motive negatively relates to two of three indicators of cooperation
All results involving the functional affiliation motive are consistent across dependent variables, across subsamples with different occupational statuses, and after accounting for a number of relevant control variables
Summary
Leaders’ behaviour in social dilemmas is of high importance for their organizations even beyond the scope of a single situation[9]. It sparks lasting reciprocity from stakeholders and observers[10], signals trustworthiness[11], builds reputation[5], and maintains existing relationships. Affiliation attracts people to situations in which they can connect with others[17] and motivates them to attend to others’. In social dilemmas, attending to others enables an accurate understanding of the situation, which in turn fosters cooperation[18,19,20,21,22]
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