Uncertainty and Influence: The Advantages (and Disadvantages) of Being Atypical

Abstract

AbstractResearch suggests that individuals who best embody the attributes that define their group's identity tend to have the most influence within their groups and often occupy leadership roles. This idea lies at the heart of social identity approaches to leadership, which have robustly found that groups tend to more strongly support prototypical leaders and, as a result, prototypical leaders can be more effective than less prototypical leaders. In this article, we overview this prototypicality advantage and also explore the conditions under which it may be weakened or reversed. More specifically, we detail some of the conditions under which nonprototypical members can overcome the leadership obstacle of being “atypical” group members. One such condition is when members experience identity uncertainty. Under these conditions, group members seek clear and distinct group identities. When non‐prototypical group members can provide such clear group defining norms, they may be promoted to leadership positions and celebrated as agents of social change.