Abstract
Two questions are addressed in this article: 1. Why are people attracted to leaders? 2. How are leaders' images construed? The first question is analyzed by using the concept of “deity” as a frame of reference for an “ideal model” of leadership. God as a “screen of projections” can satisfy the believer's fundamental needs and desires, as well as serving as a reference for causal attributions and a provider of transcendental meaning. Using Construal Level Theory (CLT) (Libermann & Trope, 1998), deity, as a frame of reference, also facilitates analysis of the second question. This analysis explains universal principles underlying the leadership construal, and the psychological principles and culture-bound processes relevant to construing different images of leadership in different collectives.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 211-228 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Keywords
- attributions
- inferences
- leader's construal
- projections
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Philosophy
- General Psychology