The primary foundations of followership

The phenomenon of followership has been increasingly discussed in recent years, and is analyzed mainly through psychological theories. In this article followership is discussed from an evolutionary perspective. The main argument is that the origins of followership are rooted in evolutionary foundations and its visible manifestations result from responses to signals sensed as associated with these primary foundations. Two kinds of signals are the “building blocks” of followership: (1) universal signals, indicating competence and care; (2) symbolic signals, representing group culture. The implications of the suggested approach for a theory of followership are discussed.