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Advancing the social identity theory of leadership: A meta-analytic review of leader group prototypicality
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Advancing the social identity theory of leadership: A meta-analytic review of leader group prototypicality

Niklas K. Steffens, Katie A. Munt, Daan van Knippenberg, Michael J. Platow and S. Alexander Haslam
Organizational psychology review, v 11(1), pp 35-72
Feb 2021
url
https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386620962569View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

This research advances a social identity approach to leadership through a meta-analysis examining four novel hypotheses that clarify the nature and impact of leader group prototypicality (the extent to which a leader is perceived to embody shared social identity). A random-effects meta-analysis ( k = 128, N = 32,834) reveals a moderate-to-large effect of prototypicality that holds across evaluative and behavioral outcomes. The effect is stronger (a) when prototypicality is conceptualized as the ideal-type rather than the average group member, (b) for stronger prototypes (indexed by group longevity), and (c) for group members in formal rather than nonformal leadership roles. The effect is not contingent on group prototypicality entailing differentiation from other (out)groups. Additionally, results provide meta-analytic evidence of widely examined key factors: follower group identification (which enhances the relationship) and leader group-serving behavior (which attenuates the relationship). Building on these findings, we outline the implications for the next wave of theoretical and empirical work.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Management
Psychology, Applied
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