School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
Am Psychol. 2022 Feb-Mar;77(2):234-248. doi: 10.1037/amp0000738. Epub 2020 Oct 29.
Leadership is one of the most researched topics in psychological and other social and behavioral sciences. It is routinely seen as vital to the success and vitality of various forms of collaborative activity not only in organizations but in society at large. This has provided the stimulus for a massive amount of theoretical and applied research and also supports a huge industry. But to whom does this body of work appeal? More specifically, does it appeal to people with a broad interest in advancing groups and society or to people who are primarily interested in promoting themselves? To answer this question, we explore the extent to which individuals' narcissism predicts their endorsement of leadership theories. Results provide empirical evidence that the more narcissistic people are, the more they find leadership theories appealing and the more interest they have in learning about the ideas behind particular theories. The predictive power of narcissism also holds when accounting for other variables (including demographic, Big Five traits, and ideological and motivational variables). We conclude that psychological theorizing about leadership can be a double-edged sword in so far as the lionization of leaders(hip) appeals to, and legitimizes, the tastes of a narcissistic audience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
领导力是心理学和其他社会及行为科学中研究最多的课题之一。它通常被视为各种形式的合作活动取得成功和保持活力的关键，而这些合作活动不仅存在于组织中，也存在于整个社会中。这为大量理论和应用研究提供了动力，也支撑起了一个庞大的产业。但是，这些研究成果对哪些人有吸引力呢？更具体地说，它们是吸引那些对推动群体和社会有广泛兴趣的人，还是吸引那些主要对提升自身利益感兴趣的人？为了回答这个问题，我们探讨了个体的自恋程度对其认可领导力理论程度的预测程度。研究结果提供了经验证据，表明越自恋的人，越觉得领导力理论有吸引力，对了解特定理论背后的思想越感兴趣。当考虑到其他变量（包括人口统计学、大五人格特质、意识形态和动机变量）时，自恋的预测力仍然成立。我们得出结论，领导力的心理理论化可能是一把双刃剑，因为对领导者（ship）的美化迎合了自恋受众的口味，并使其合理化。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2022 APA，保留所有权利）。
