The essential tension between leadership and power: when leaders sacrifice group goals for the sake of self-interest

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Jon K Maner, Nicole L Mead

Abstract

Throughout human history, leaders have been responsible for helping groups attain important goals. Ideally, leaders use their power to steer groups toward desired outcomes. However, leaders can also use their power in the service of self-interest rather than effective leadership. Five experiments identified factors within both the person and the social context that determine whether leaders wield their power to promote group goals versus self-interest. In most cases, leaders behaved in a manner consistent with group goals. However, when their power was tenuous due to instability within the hierarchy, leaders high (but not low) in dominance motivation prioritized their own power over group goals: They withheld valuable information from the group, excluded a highly skilled group member, and prevented a proficient group member from having any influence over a group task. These self-interested actions were eliminated when the group was competing against a rival outgroup. Findings provide important insight into factors that influence the way leaders navigate the essential tension between leadership and power.

Citations

Sep 29, 2011·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Daan ScheepersKai Sassenberg
May 13, 2014·Journal of Personality Assessment·Christiane SchoelDagmar Stahlberg
Aug 3, 2012·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Jon K ManerJonathan W Kunstman
Jan 26, 2013·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Joe C Magee, Pamela K Smith
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Mar 1, 2015·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Junha KimTuvana Rua
Feb 28, 2018·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Aleksandra CislakNatalia Frankowska
Feb 23, 2019·Scientific Reports·Ashton RobertsTroy A W Visser
Jul 6, 2021·Journal of Business Ethics : JBE·Juliana Guedes AlmeidaJuliana Barreiros Porto

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