Abstract
Addressing psychological literature's deficiency in research on the early development of leaders in everyday life (e.g., leaders in the workplace, leaders in social settings, leaders in organizational settings), this study assumed that central psychological capacities required for such leaders can be predicted and explained by J. Bowlby's (1969) attachment theory concerning developmental processes in infancy. The authors administered a series of questionnaires to 402 participants. The authors analyzed data by using structural equation modeling. Findings indicate a potential-to-lead construct that forms in infancy. The results fully supported the authors' main arguments: that secure attachment style influences the potential to lead and that this capacity is essential for leadership as measured by leadership ranking.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 244-267 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Journal of Genetic Psychology |
| Volume | 170 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Sep 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study is part of a larger study supported by American Army Research Institute. contract DASW01–01–K–0004. Address correspondence to Professor Micha Popper, Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; mpopper@psy.haifa.ac.il (e-mail).
Keywords
- Attachment styles
- Leadership
- Psychological capacities to lead
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies