Presidential Prototypes: Who Our Leaders Are Shape Who We Think Leaders Should Be

Abstract

Individuals hold internal representations for the characteristics of the ideal leader, termed leadership prototypes, which affect how people engage with leaders and their own behaviors when in leadership roles. This paper examines how this prototype can change within a population in reaction to a prominent leadership transition, specifically, the 2020 US presidential election. A sample of Republicans (N=200), Democrats (N=200), and Independents (N=200), surveyed eight times between October 2020 and January 2021, reported their perceptions of the characteristics of the ideal leader. Results from parametric regression discontinuity in time and repeated measurement analyses found that the US election altered participants' leadership prototypes, such that post-election people's ideal leader became less tyrannical and less masculine. Contrary to our hypothesis, political identification did not moderate this effect, however, posthoc analysis did reveal that the shift in leadership prototypes was only present in individuals who accepted the result of the election as legitimate. Our results demonstrate a mechanism through which leadership prototypes shift and more broadly the societal impact of prominent leadership transitions.