Social Identity Leadership Research Articles

Capturing hearts and minds: The influence of relational identification with the leader on followers' mobilization and cardiovascular reactivity

The influence of relational identification (RI) on leadership processes and the effects of social identity leadership on followers' responses to stress have received scant theoretical and research attention. The present research advances theoretical understanding by testing the assertion that high RI with the leader drives follower mobilization of effort and psychophysiological responses to stress. Two experimental scenario studies (Study 1 and Study 2) support the hypothesis that being led by an individual with whom followers perceive high RI increases follower intentional mobilization. Study 2 additionally showed that high (vs. low) RI increases follower resource appraisals and cognitive task performance. A laboratory experiment (Study 3) assessing cardiovascular (CV) reactivity showed that, compared to neutral (i.e., non-affiliated) leadership, being led by an individual with whom participants felt low RI elicited a maladaptive (i.e., threat) response to a pressurized task. In addition, relative to the low RI and neutral conditions, high RI with the leader did not engender greater challenge or threat reactivity. In conclusion, advancing social identity leadership and challenge and threat theory, findings suggest that leaders should be mindful of the deleterious effects (i.e., reduced mobilization and greater threat state) of low RI to optimize follower mobilization of effort and psychophysiological responses to stress.

Team Design with (Female) Leaders in Mind: Restoring Equity in Leadership Evaluations

The leadership literature shows consistent, sizeable, and persistent effects indicating that female leaders face significant biases in the workplace compared with male leaders. However, the social identity leadership literature suggests these biases might be overcome at the team level by adjusting the number of women in the team. Building on this work, we conducted 2 multiple source, multiple wave, multi-level randomized field experiments to test if the gender composition of teams helps to restore equity in leadership evaluations of men and women. Across two samples of university students engaged in a team-building exercise, we find that male leaders are rated as more prototypical leaders than female leaders despite no differences in leaders’ self-reported prototypicality; however, this male leadership advantage is eliminated in gender- balanced teams. In Study 2, we extend this finding by supporting a moderated mediation model showing that leader gender and the team’s gender composition interact to relate to perceived trust in the leader, through the mediating mechanism of leader prototypicality. Findings support the social identity model of organizational leadership and indicate a boundary condition of role congruity theory, bolstering our need for a more social relational, context-based approach to leadership.

Promoting shared meanings in group memberships: a social identity approach to leadership in sport

The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the applicability of a social identity approach to leadership in sporting contexts. A social identity approach to leadership contends that leaders and group members are connected through feeling a sense of belonging and emotional attachment to their group. The present review (1) outlines the theoretical underpinnings of social identity theory, (2) reflects on the four principles of social identity leadership and applies them to sport, (3) contrasts social identity leadership with current leadership theories, and (4) provides suggestions for future research investigating a social identity approach to leadership in sport. Accordingly, the review illustrates how an appreciation of the social context and group members’ values allow leaders to mobilise – enlist the motivation and abilities of – athletes to achieve the leader’s vision. A social identity approach to leadership has the potential to extend understanding of leadership in sport by emphasising the role of groups and context in leadership.

Leading for gold: social identity leadership processes at the London 2012 Olympic Games

This paper adopted a social identity approach to explore the media data of leadership figures at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Media data in the form of interviews, speeches/team announcements, and blog posts from leaders integral to the London 2012 Olympic Games were analysed from 100 days prior to, during, and for 30 days following, the Olympic Games. Leaders included Lord Seb Coe, Andy Hunt, and performance directors of TeamGB athletics (Charles van Commenee), cycling (Sir David Brailsford), rowing (David Tanner) and swimming (Michael Scott). An inductive and deductive thematic analysis identified five higher order themes: creation of team identities, team values, team vision, performance consequences and ‘we’ achieved. The analysis makes a contribution to extant leadership literature by highlighting novel contextually relevant themes surrounding leadership at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Thus, opportunities for future research and application are outlined.

Shoulder to shoulder: An analysis of a miners' support group during the 1984-85 strike and the significance of social identity, geography and political leadership

Drawing on the extensive archive of a support group in the 1984-5 British miners' strike, this study considers the process of establishing such a group, its primary welfare and fund-raising role, its attitude to picketing, women's role and activity, and the role of a particular Marxist group within it. Three interrelated explanatory themes are emphasised: the process of social identification with the strike, geography and political leadership. Some qualification to this analysis is suggested in conclusion, as is the potential for applying and developing the approach more generally in explaining the success of support groups in the 1984-5 miners' strike, in spite of their diverse forms and membership.

Процессы социальной идентичности в организациях

Expanding and complex social realities cause new types of identity. Varietyin organizations and workgroups (where people are involved), implies aspecial kind of social identity which can be defined as professional, organizationalor managerial. The study of the social identity processes in organizationsis a new interdisciplinary sphere that is presented especially commonlyin European Social Psychology. The result of its theoretical comprehension isSocial Identity Theory. In the article listed and analyzed, foreign theoreticalelaborations and empirical studies in the area: organizational identity and organizationalidentification, social identity theory and leadership; labor motivationand target designation, and amalgamations and differences in organizations.