Supervisor's organizational embodiment is leader group prototypicality: Addressing construct redundancy through replication

Abstract

The core concept in the social identity theory of leadership is leader group prototypicality (LGP), the perception that the leader is representative of a shared group (team, organization) identity. The theory was proposed in the 1990s and inspired a body of research that established the theory as well-supported. We argue that the 2010 construct of supervisor's organizational embodiment (SOE) captures the same construct as LGP. The use of different labels for the same construct is an impediment to the development of broad-ranging theory. It is therefore important to empirically establish whether SOE can indeed be seen as another name for LGP. We address this issue through replication tests, establishing that core LGP findings and core SOE findings replicate with both LGP and SOE measurement, as well as by showing that LGP and SOE items represent the same underlying factor. We discuss how recognizing that SOE is another name for LGP allows for the integration of two separate streams of research. We also propose referring to the construct of interest exclusively as LGP and forgoing the SOE label that was proposed after LGP was already established in the literature.