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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Perceptions Of Leaders, Heroes And Villains: Mystery Resolution And Meaning-Making, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison Dec 2018

Perceptions Of Leaders, Heroes And Villains: Mystery Resolution And Meaning-Making, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison

Scott T. Allison


In this chapter, we review the myriad ways that people resolve mystery and uncertainty in social perception. People rely on perceptual, cognitive, and motivational resources at their disposal to acquire an understanding of mysterious persons, groups, and circumstances.  Perceptual forces at work in the mystery resolution process include principles of gestalt organization.  Cognitive processes that come into play include people’s use of impressions, prototypes, archetypes, and implicit theories of leadership, heroism, and villainy.  Moreover, we describe several key motivational forces that steer people toward desired conclusions about mystery. Implications for social behavior and perception are discussed.


Heroic Leadership, Scott T. Allison Dec 2016

Heroic Leadership, Scott T. Allison

Scott T. Allison

The world’s most revered leaders have traveled the hero’s journey of personal transformation and, in turn, have used their gifts to transform others. The heroic leader’s journey is the human journey, replete with struggle, growth, learning, transformation, and an ascendency from followership to heroic leadership. Those who dare to transform, or who are compelled to do so by circumstance, grow into fully developed human beings ready, willing, and able to transform others. The transformed hero represents the pinnacle of human maturity, the state of wellbeing that allows people to flourish and experience eudaimonia.


Relationships Among Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles, Role Pressures, Stress Levels, And Coping Resources In Senior Queensland Catholic Education Executives, Lynette Hand, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr Feb 2016

Relationships Among Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles, Role Pressures, Stress Levels, And Coping Resources In Senior Queensland Catholic Education Executives, Lynette Hand, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr

Mark Bahr

There is considerable research available on general organizational leadership but limited research in relation to religious educational organizations and the leadership styles of executive staff. The Queensland Catholic Education (QCE) executives are thought to emphasize transformational more than transactional leadership styles but little information is available on the relationships of these styles to stress within the faith-based organizations, and to the role stressors faced and levels of coping resources. This paper reports on a study of 136 QCE executive leaders (of the total 220 executives) relating leadership styles adopted, strain (stress) experienced, personal coping resources, and selected role stressors (role …


Paradoxical Truths In Heroic Leadership: Implications For Leadership Development And Effectiveness, Scott T. Allison, Jennifer L. Cecilione Dec 2015

Paradoxical Truths In Heroic Leadership: Implications For Leadership Development And Effectiveness, Scott T. Allison, Jennifer L. Cecilione

Scott T. Allison

In this chapter, we discuss the basic elements of heroic leadership, showing how heroism and exemplary leadership are deeply intertwined. We then describe six paradoxical truths about heroic leadership that are often unrecognized and unappreciated. We believe that ignorance of these counterintuitive truths and paradoxes about heroic leadership can lead to misunderstandings about leaders, leadership, and leadership development. Most of these paradoxes are a central part of the hero’s journey as described by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell (1949). We will discuss the genesis of these paradoxical truths, and we will suggest ways that an awareness of these principles can engender …


Suffering And Sacrifice: Individual And Collective Benefits, And Implications For Leadership, Scott T. Allison, Gwendolyn C. Setterberg Dec 2015

Suffering And Sacrifice: Individual And Collective Benefits, And Implications For Leadership, Scott T. Allison, Gwendolyn C. Setterberg

Scott T. Allison

In this chapter, we review the ways in which suffering and sacrifice are beneficial to human beings. In our review, we draw from both ancient and modern spiritual traditions and a large body of psychological research on the determinants of happiness and mental health. Our review is necessarily an abbreviated one; a thorough treatment of this topic would surely fill an entire volume. This chapter represents an initial attempt to illuminate basic insights, using broad brushstrokes, about the ways in which suffering and sacrifice contribute to people’s emotional, behavioral, and spiritual wellness. In addition to describing the psychological and spiritual …


Leader Mistreatment, Employee Hostility, And Deviant Behaviors: Integrating Self-Uncertainty And Thwarted Needs Perspectives On Deviance, David M. Mayer, Stefan Thau, Kristina Workman, Marius Van Dijke, David De Cremer Nov 2015

Leader Mistreatment, Employee Hostility, And Deviant Behaviors: Integrating Self-Uncertainty And Thwarted Needs Perspectives On Deviance, David M. Mayer, Stefan Thau, Kristina Workman, Marius Van Dijke, David De Cremer

Kristina Workman

Integrating self-uncertainty management and thwarted needs perspectives on leader mistreatment and workplace deviance, we examine when and why leader mistreatment is associated with workplace deviance. We propose that competence uncertainty strengthens the relationship between leader mistreatment and workplace deviance and that hostility mediates this interactive effect. Four field studies and one experiment support the hypotheses. The first two studies provide evidence for the predicted interaction between leader mistreatment and competence uncertainty, and the next three studies demonstrate that hostility mediates this interactive effect. We discuss an extended social exchange explanation of workplace deviance and highlight the psychological interplay between motives, …


Commentary On ‘Why Compassion Counts!’: Compassion As A Generative Force, Jane E. Dutton, Kristina Workman Nov 2015

Commentary On ‘Why Compassion Counts!’: Compassion As A Generative Force, Jane E. Dutton, Kristina Workman

Kristina Workman

[Excerpt] Twelve years ago, Peter Frost called upon us to consider why compassion counts. More than a decade later, we can see, feel, and understand why compassion counts both in the field of organizational studies and in our lives as scholars. As he was so many times during his career, Peter was prophetic in identifying and animating a core idea that is central to our field and to our lives. We approach this essay with three goals in mind, all focused on elaborating how compassion is a generative force. By generative, we mean that compassion as an idea opens up …


Discovering The Servant In Fire And Emergency Services Leaders: A Grounded Theory, Eric J. Russell Edd, Rodger E. Broome Phd, Rhiannon Prince Bs, Nrp Jul 2015

Discovering The Servant In Fire And Emergency Services Leaders: A Grounded Theory, Eric J. Russell Edd, Rodger E. Broome Phd, Rhiannon Prince Bs, Nrp

Rodger E. Broome

This qualitative grounded theory designed study identified perceptions of leaders and leadership from the perspective of mid-level fire and emergency services officers. The findings from this study discovered a possible pathway for instilling the philosophy of servant leadership into the fire and emergency services. The study took place at a large metropolitan fire and emergency services agency in the Western United States. The 15 participants in the study were affiliated, uniformed and sworn, mid-level fire and emergency services officers. The literature used to form this study, identified negative issues associated with current leadership practices within the fire and emergency services …


Relationships Among Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles, Role Pressures, Stress Levels, And Coping Resources In Senior Queensland Catholic Education Executives, Lynette Hand, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr May 2015

Relationships Among Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles, Role Pressures, Stress Levels, And Coping Resources In Senior Queensland Catholic Education Executives, Lynette Hand, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr

Richard Hicks

There is considerable research available on general organizational leadership but limited research in relation to religious educational organizations and the leadership styles of executive staff. The Queensland Catholic Education (QCE) executives are thought to emphasize transformational more than transactional leadership styles but little information is available on the relationships of these styles to stress within the faith-based organizations, and to the role stressors faced and levels of coping resources. This paper reports on a study of 136 QCE executive leaders (of the total 220 executives) relating leadership styles adopted, strain (stress) experienced, personal coping resources, and selected role stressors (role …


Work Groups And Teams In Organizations: Review Update, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Bradford S. Bell Mar 2015

Work Groups And Teams In Organizations: Review Update, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Bradford S. Bell

Bradford S Bell

This review chapter examines the literature on work team effectiveness. To begin, we consider their nature, define them, and identify four critical conceptual issues—context, workflow, levels, and time—that serve as review themes and discuss the multitude of forms that teams may assume. We then shift attention to the heart of the review, examining key aspects of the creation, development, operation, and management of work teams. To accomplish objectives of breadth and integration, we adopt a lifecycle perspective to organize the review. Topics involved in the team lifecycle include: (1) team composition; (2) team formation, socialization, and development; (3) …


Revisiting The Meaning Of Leadership, Joel Podolny, Rakesh Khurana, Marya Besharov Feb 2015

Revisiting The Meaning Of Leadership, Joel Podolny, Rakesh Khurana, Marya Besharov

Marya Besharov

During the past fifty years, organizational scholarship on leadership has shifted from a focus on the significance of leadership for meaning-making to the significance of leadership for economic performance. This shift has been problematic for two reasons. First, it has given rise to numerous conceptual difficulties that now plague the study of leadership. Second, there is now comparatively little attention to the question of how individuals find meaning in the economic sphere even though this question should arguably be one of the most important questions for organizational scholarship. This chapter discusses several reasons for the shift, arguing that one of …


Suffering And Sacrifice: Individual And Collective Benefits, And Implications For Leadership, Scott T. Allison, Gwen Setterberg Dec 2014

Suffering And Sacrifice: Individual And Collective Benefits, And Implications For Leadership, Scott T. Allison, Gwen Setterberg

Scott T. Allison

In this chapter, we review the ways in which suffering and sacrifice are beneficial to human beings. In our review, we draw from both ancient and modern spiritual traditions and a large body of psychological research on the determinants of happiness and mental health. Our review is necessarily an abbreviated one; a thorough treatment of this topic would surely fill an entire volume. This chapter represents an initial attempt to illuminate basic insights, using broad brushstrokes, about the ways in which suffering and sacrifice contribute to people’s emotional, behavioral, and spiritual wellness. In addition to describing the psychological and spiritual …


Performance Feedback, Allison O'Malley Dec 2014

Performance Feedback, Allison O'Malley

Alison L. O'Malley

Entry in Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.


Gender And Leadership Style: A Meta-Analysis, Alice Eagly, Blair Johnson Aug 2014

Gender And Leadership Style: A Meta-Analysis, Alice Eagly, Blair Johnson

Blair T. Johnson

No abstract provided.


Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy Of 100 Exceptional Individuals, Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals Mar 2014

Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy Of 100 Exceptional Individuals, Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals

Scott T. Allison

Heroic Leadership is a celebration of our greatest heroes, from legends such as Mahatma Gandhi to the legions of unsung heroes who transform our world quietly behind the scenes. The authors argue that all great heroes are also great leaders. The term ‘heroic leadership’ is coined to describe how heroism and leadership are intertwined, and how our most cherished heroes are also our most transforming leaders.

This book offers a new conceptual framework for understanding heroism and heroic leadership, drawing from theories of great leadership and heroic action. Ten categories of heroism are described: Trending Heroes, Transitory Heroes, Transparent Heroes, …


Kings And Charisma, Lincoln And Leadership: An Evolutionary Perspective, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison Dec 2013

Kings And Charisma, Lincoln And Leadership: An Evolutionary Perspective, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison

Scott T. Allison

People revere charismatic leaders. In this chapter, we examine charisma from an evolutionary perspective. In doing so, we explore the charisma of Martin Luther King, Jr., Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, and Abraham Lincoln.


Leading Amidst Competing Technical And Institutional Demands: Revisiting Selznick’S Conception Of Leadership, Marya Besharov, Rakesh Khurana Oct 2012

Leading Amidst Competing Technical And Institutional Demands: Revisiting Selznick’S Conception Of Leadership, Marya Besharov, Rakesh Khurana

Marya Besharov

This chapter explores how Selznick’s approach to leadership can inform contemporary organizational theory and research. Drawing on Selznick’s writing in Leadership in Administration and related works, we characterize organizations as simultaneously technical entities pursuing economic goals and value-laden entities pursuing non-economic goals arising from their members and their role in society. These two aspects of organizations are deeply intertwined and in continual tension with one another, and the essential task of leadership is to uphold both – protecting and promoting values while also meeting technical imperatives. To do so, leaders establish a common purpose that includes values and ideals not …


A Paradoxical Leadership Model For Social Entrepreneurs: Challenges, Leadership Skills, And Pedagogical Tools For Managing Social And Commercial Demands, Wendy K. Smith, Marya Besharov, Anne K. Wessels, Michael Chertok Aug 2012

A Paradoxical Leadership Model For Social Entrepreneurs: Challenges, Leadership Skills, And Pedagogical Tools For Managing Social And Commercial Demands, Wendy K. Smith, Marya Besharov, Anne K. Wessels, Michael Chertok

Marya Besharov

Social enterprises offer the promise of financially sustainable organizations that can respond to the world's most pressing problems. Yet for social enterprises to succeed their leaders must effectively manage conflicting demands that arise from dual commitments to improving social welfare and achieving commercial viability. While existing research highlights distinct skills for enabling social missions or for achieving business outcomes, we draw on paradox research to build theory about the challenges and associated skills for effectively managing the tensions emerging from the juxtaposition of social mission and business outcomes. We then use two exemplary settings for educating social entrepreneurs, one in …


Making Heroes: The Construction Of Courage, Competence And Virtue, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison Dec 2011

Making Heroes: The Construction Of Courage, Competence And Virtue, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison

Scott T. Allison

In this article, we examine the psychological processes underlying the construction of heroes. We focus on the cognitive and motivational forces that give rise to heroism, and we discuss the behaviors that characterize heroic life.


Polishing The "Boots," Part 3, Rodger E. Broome Dec 2010

Polishing The "Boots," Part 3, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

No abstract provided.


Polishing The "Boots," Part 2, Rodger E. Broome Sep 2010

Polishing The "Boots," Part 2, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Autocracy, Bureaucracy, and Complacency, the A-B-Cs of bad management.


Polishing The "Boots," Part 1, Rodger E. Broome Mar 2010

Polishing The "Boots," Part 1, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

No abstract provided.


The Downside Of Goal-Focused Leadership: The Role Of Personality In Subordinate Exhaustion Dec 2009

The Downside Of Goal-Focused Leadership: The Role Of Personality In Subordinate Exhaustion

L. A. Witt

No abstract provided.


Safety Culture As A Contemporary Healthcare Construct: Theoretical Review, Research Assessment, And Translation To Human Resource Management., Patrick Albert Palmieri Dec 2009

Safety Culture As A Contemporary Healthcare Construct: Theoretical Review, Research Assessment, And Translation To Human Resource Management., Patrick Albert Palmieri

Patrick Albert Palmieri

Through a number of comprehensive reviews, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recommended that healthcare organizations develop safety cultures in order to align delivery system processes with the workforce requirements to improve patient outcomes. Until health systems can provide safer care environments, patients remain at risk for suboptimal care and adverse outcomes. Health science researchers have begun to explore how safety cultures might act as an essential system feature to improve organizational outcomes. Since safety cultures are established via modification in employee safety perspective and work behavior, human resource professionals need to contribute to this developing organizational domain. The IOM …


The Role Of Goal-Focused Leadership In Enabling The Expression Of Conscientiousness Dec 2008

The Role Of Goal-Focused Leadership In Enabling The Expression Of Conscientiousness

L. A. Witt

No abstract provided.


Boosting Morale And Improving Performance In The Nursing Setting, Peta Stapleton, Amanda Henderson, Debra Creedy, Marie Cooke, Elizabeth Patterson, Heather Alexander, Alison Haywood, Megan Dalton Oct 2007

Boosting Morale And Improving Performance In The Nursing Setting, Peta Stapleton, Amanda Henderson, Debra Creedy, Marie Cooke, Elizabeth Patterson, Heather Alexander, Alison Haywood, Megan Dalton

Peta B. Stapleton

Aim and background: While the importance of morale is well researched in the nursing literature, strategies and interventions are not so prolific. The complexities of interpersonal relationships within the clinical domain, and the critical issues faced by nurses on a daily basis, indicate that morale, job satisfaction and motivation are essential components in improving workplace efficiency, output and communication amongst staff. Drawing on educational, organizational and psychological literature, this paper argues that the ability to inspire morale in staff is a fundamental indicator of sound leadership and managerial characteristics.

Evaluation and key issues: Four practical concepts that could be implemented …


A Behavior Genetic Investigation Of The Relationship Between Leadership And Personality, Andrew Johnson, Philip Vernon, Julie Harris, Kerry Jang Jan 2004

A Behavior Genetic Investigation Of The Relationship Between Leadership And Personality, Andrew Johnson, Philip Vernon, Julie Harris, Kerry Jang

Andrew M. Johnson

Phenotypic research on leadership style has long considered the importance of individual differences in personality when identifying the behaviors associated with good leaders. Although leadership and many personality traits have been separately shown to be heritable, these constructs have not been examined with genetically informative data to identify common sources of heritability in the two domains. A logical extension to current research, therefore, is to examine the extent to which factors of personality are predictive of leadership dimensions and the extent to which unique genetic contributions to the relationship between personality and leadership style may be identified. Adult twin pairs …


Nature Vs. Nurture: Are Leaders Born Or Made? A Behavior Genetic Investigation Of Leadership Style, Andrew Johnson, Philip Vernon, Julie Mccarthy, Mindy Molson, Julie Harris, Kerry Jang Nov 1998

Nature Vs. Nurture: Are Leaders Born Or Made? A Behavior Genetic Investigation Of Leadership Style, Andrew Johnson, Philip Vernon, Julie Mccarthy, Mindy Molson, Julie Harris, Kerry Jang

Andrew M. Johnson

With the recent resurgence in popularity of trait theories of leadership, it is timely to consider the genetic determination of the multiple factors comprising the leadership construct. Individual differences in personality traits have been found to be moderately to highly heritable, and so it follows that if there are reliable personality trait differences between leaders and non-leaders, then there may be a heritable component to these individual differences. Despite this connection between leadership and personality traits, however, there are no studies of the genetic basis of leadership using modern behavior genetic methodology. The present study proposes to address the lack …