Niklas K Steffens
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 1729629 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Niklas K Steffens |
| NOMBRES | Niklas K |
| APELLIDO | Steffens |
| FIRMA | STEFFENS N K |
| AFILIACIONES | The University of Queensland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3990-2592 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 57 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 285 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 57 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2013 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
A Social Identity Model of Leadership Development Implementation
Despite substantial investment in leadership development, organizations often struggle to implement relevant programs effectively. This reflects the fact that the success of program implementation is contingent on identity dynamics. Building on the social identity model of leadership, the ASPIRe model, and evidence-based programs such as 5R that apply these principles, we argue that, to be effective, implementation needs to ensure that the approa…
Income and Immorality
The topic of CEO pay has become increasingly prevalent in public discourse. In this paper, we explore whether perceptions that a CEO is relatively highly paid affect evaluations of the moral character of the CEO and of the organisation that they represent. Using a time-separated survey of employees’ perceptions of the pay and moral character of their CEO (N = 306; pre-registered), we found that CEOs who were perceived to be relatively well paid w…
How identity leadership at various university hierarchy levels shapes researchers’ well-being and performance
In the competitive world of academia, maintaining a productive and healthy life as a researcher is a significant challenge. This paper argues that identity leadership that focuses on fostering shared social identity (a sense of “we” and “us”) contributes meaningfully to researchers’ well-being and productivity. In a field study of 481 early and mid-career researchers (PhD researchers and postdocs) in Germany, academic supervisors’ identity leader…
Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages
Mental simulation theories of language comprehension propose that people automatically create mental representations of objects mentioned in sentences. Mental representation is often measured with the sentence-picture verification task, wherein participants first read a sentence that implies the object property (i.e., shape and orientation). Participants then respond to an image of an object by indicating whether it was an object from the sentenc…
The value of leaders we trust and leaders who make us stronger
This study investigates the critical role of social identity in leadership, specifically examining identity leadership (IL) and the unique contributions of its four subdimensions: identity prototypicality, identity advancement, identity entrepreneurship, and identity impresarioship. To date, research has largely focused on the global construct of identity leadership and shown that in organizational contexts, it is a predictor of a range of outcom…
Engaged Onlooking
We examine how social identity processes shape condoning of organisational corruption among onlookers. Two studies examined the willingness of outside observers to condone, or else condemn, corrupt actions of real organisations, a process we call ‘engaged onlookership’ building on the social identity approach to engaged followership. In both Study 1 (cross‐sectional) and Study 2 (experimental), we found that identification with a company guilty o…
Nothing is so impactful as good theory
This research sought to evaluate the uptake of research on social identity and health among policymakers and practitioners. It also sought to identify the research outputs that have had the greatest impact and to understand the nature of their impact. Policy impact tools in Elsevier's SciVal institutional subscription were utilised in combination with Overton. We extracted all articles within the social identity approach to health topic 1996-2023…
Do followers mind the pay gap? An experimental test of the impact of the vertical pay gap on leader effectiveness
The pay gap between those in leadership positions and other organisational members has risen markedly over the last five decades. There is evidence that this gap may undermine subordinate identification with and evaluation of the organisation and its leaders. To date, however, there is limited evidence that this gap affects related subordinate behaviour, including their willingness to follow their leader’s commands and work for the organisational…
Leader Group Prototypicality
Core to the social identity theory of leadership is leader group prototypicality (LGP), the perception of the leader as embodying shared collective (e.g., team, organization) identity. Steffens, Munt, van Knippenberg, Platow, and Haslam’s meta-analysis showed that LGP operationalized as embodying the ideal-type of the group (ideal-type prototypicality, ITP) is more strongly related to indicators of leadership effectiveness than LGP operationalize…
Tackling loneliness together
In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the threats to health posed by loneliness. One of the main strategies that has been recommended to address this is social prescribing (SP). This typically involves general practitioners (GPs) and other health practitioners directing clients who are experiencing loneliness and related conditions to take part in social activities—typically in recreational and community contexts. However, eviden…
Meta‐identification
In the present research, we introduce and develop the concept of meta‐identification – perceptions of others’ identification with a group – and examine its capacity to shape group life. Across two cross‐sectional studies and three experiments ( N total = 3992), we investigate the relationship between participants’ meta‐identification in an intragroup context and their group meaningfulness, collective self‐efficacy, organisational citizenship beha…
Political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior
Identity leadership captures leaders efforts to create and promote a sense of shared group membership (i.e., a sense of “we” and of “us”) among followers. The present research report tests this claim by drawing on data from 26 countries that are part of the Global Identity Leadership Development (GILD) project to examine the relationship between political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior (N = 6787). It also examines the…
Examining the role of Donald Trump and his supporters in the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol
Where is the human in human-centered AI? Insights from developer priorities and user experiences
Human-centered artificial intelligence (HCAI) seeks to shift the focus in AI development from technology to people. However, it is not clear whether existing HCAI principles and practices adequately accomplish this goal. To explore whether HCAI is sufficiently focused on people, we conducted a qualitative survey of AI developers (N = 75) and users (N = 130) and performed a thematic content analysis on their responses to gain insight into their di…
Innovation across cultures
Innovation is considered essential for today's organizations to survive and thrive. Researchers have also stressed the importance of leadership as a driver of followers' innovative work behavior (FIB). Yet, despite a large amount of research, three areas remain understudied: (a) The relative importance of different forms of leadership for FIB; (b) the mechanisms through which leadership impacts FIB; and (c) the degree to which relationships betwe…
Restless in an Unequal World
Building on theories explaining social outcomes of economic inequality, our research examined the psychological impact of inequality on the desire for wealth and status. Our studies provide both experimental (Studies 1 and 3, Ns = 321 and 596) and correlational (Study 2; N = 141,477 from 73 countries and regions) evidence that higher inequality heightens people’s desire for wealth and status. Notably, this effect of inequality on desire is indepe…
Reflective and decisive supervision
Supervisory bodies can intervene in organizational practices that may harm society, but their effectiveness to do so depends on their ability to make decisions reflectively and decisively. Are these tendencies incompatible with each other or can they go together? Can empowering leadership (i.e. participative, coaching, informing behaviors) stimulate reflectiveness and decisiveness? A 10‐item Joint Decision‐Making Questionnaire was developed and t…
Social identity makes group-based social connection possible
Double jeopardy
While the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress is well documented, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less clear. One factor known to be related to loneliness as well as psychological distress, is social support, with some studies suggesting that support–both received and provided–can serve as a mechanism to reduce the distress associated with loneliness. In this paper we examine the mediating role of both aspec…
Reconciling identity leadership and leader identity
Exemplifying “Us”
A meta-analysis of retirement adjustment predictors
Cracks before the crisis
We examine how polarization within societies is associated with reduced confidence in national responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) crisis. We surveyed 4,731 participants across nine countries at Wave 1 (France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States), and then, at Wave 2 (3 months later), we recontacted 840 participants from two countries (the United Kingdom and the Unite…
Understanding responses to an organizational takeover
This paper presents a Social Identity Model of Organizational Change (SIMOC) and tests this in the context of employees' responses to a corporate takeover. This model suggests that employees will identify with the newly emerging organization and adjust to organizational change more successfully the more they are able to maintain their pre-existing social identity (an identity maintenance pathway) or to change understanding of their social identit…
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
Why a nudge is not enough
Policy makers can use four different modes of governance: ‘hierarchy’, ‘markets’, ‘networks’ and ‘persuasion’. In this article, it is argued that ‘nudging’ represents a distinct (fifth) mode of governance. The effectiveness of nudging as a means of bringing about lasting behaviour change is questioned and it is argued that evidence for its success ignores the facts that many successful nudges are not in fact nudges; that there are instances when …
Advancing the social identity approach to health and well‐being
The health of people's body and mind is powerfully conditioned by social factors that affect their social identity. Consistent with this notion, there is a growing interest in the way that group memberships (and the social identities derived from belonging to these groups) affect health and well‐being. To the extent that group memberships provide individuals with meaning, support, and agency (i.e., a positive sense of social identity), health is …
Social cure, what social cure? The propensity to underestimate the importance of social factors for health
Multiple Social Identities Enhance Health Post-Retirement Because They Are a Basis for Giving Social Support
We examine the extent to which multiple social identities are associated with enhanced health and well-being in retirement because they provide a basis for giving and receiving social support. Results from a cross-sectional study show that retirees (N = 171) who had multiple social identities following (but not prior to) retirement report being (a) more satisfied with retirement, (b) in better health, and (c) more satisfied with life in general. …
To what extent are conspiracy theorists concerned for self versus others? A Covid‐19 test case
We examined whether people who are prone to believe COVID‐19 conspiracy theories are characterised by an especially strong concern for others or an especially strong concern for the self, and whether these orientations are associated with willingness to take a COVID‐19 vaccine. We surveyed 4,245 participants from eight nations; three months later we re‐contacted 1,262 participants from three nations. Belief in COVID‐19 conspiracy theories was rel…
Of the group’ and ‘for the group’
Previous research has focused on the importance of leaders being seen to be of the group (i.e. to be prototypical of a group) but less on the impact of leaders' own degree of identification with the group. Also, little is known about the combined impact of leader prototypicality and leader identification on followers' responses. This paper reports two studies that address these lacunae. Study 1 shows experimentally that perceived leader identific…
The more you have, the more you want? Higher social class predicts a greater desire for wealth and status
Traditional theories have focused on the intentions of lower‐class individuals to climb on the social ladder, yet they have paid relatively little attention to the motivations of upper‐class individuals to ascend even higher. Addressing this issue, Studies 1 and 2 provided cross‐national evidence that higher social class is associated with a greater desire for wealth and status. Moreover, by manipulating perceived social class, Studies 3 and 5 ex…
Leader performance and prototypicality
Research has demonstrated that leader performance and leader prototypicality are both predictors of leader endorsement. While performance and prototypicality have generally been considered to be independent, this paper suggests that performance and prototypicality are interdependent and have a bi‐directional impact both on each other and on leaders' capacity to engage in identity entrepreneurship (i.e., to define shared group norms and ideals). T…
Our Followers Are Lions, Theirs Are Sheep
Two studies examine how self‐categorization theory can be used to refine our understanding of people's implicit theories about followership and social influence. Results from Study 1 show that perceivers regard followers of a group they themselves identify strongly with (rather than not at all) to be more representative of the prototype of effective followers (displaying enthusiasm, industry, good citizenship) and to be less representative of the…
Identity Leadership in a Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest global crisis of our lifetimes, and leadership has been critical to societies' capacity to deal with it. Here effective leadership has brought people together, provided a clear perspective on what is happening and what response is needed, and mobilized the population to act in the most effective ways to bring the pandemic under control. Informed by a model of identity leadership (Haslam, Reicher & Platow, 202…
Multiple social groups support adjustment to retirement across cultures
The Psychology of Leadership Destabilization
When contesting for political office, leaders do not only seek to build their own following but also to engage in attacks to destabilize opponent leaders. However, research has yet to explore and explain the nature of attacks that seek to destabilize a leader's influence. Building on the identity leadership model which sees leadership as flowing from a leader's capacity to promote a sense of shared identity with followers, we argue that a leader …
The Importance of Social Groups for Retirement Adjustment
Previous work in the social identity tradition suggests that adjustment to significant life changes, both positive (e.g., becoming a new parent) and negative (e.g., experiencing a stroke), can be supported by access to social group networks. This is the basis for the social identity model of identity change (SIMIC), which argues that, in the context of life transitions, well‐being and adjustment are enhanced to the extent that people are able to …
Understanding responses to an organizational takeover
This paper presents a Social Identity Model of Organizational Change (SIMOC) and tests this in the context of employees' responses to a corporate takeover. This model suggests that employees will identify with the newly emerging organization and adjust to organizational change more successfully the more they are able to maintain their pre-existing social identity (an identity maintenance pathway) or to change understanding of their social identit…
To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply
Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov’s valence–dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof an…
The narcissistic appeal of leadership theories
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 i…
Social identity mapping online
721) featuring community, student, new parent, and retiree samples, test the reliability and validity of oSIM. Results indicate that the tool is easy to use, engaging, has good internal consistency as well as convergent and discriminant validity, and predicts relevant outcomes across a range of contexts. Furthermore, using meta-analytic findings, the tool is able to index a higher-order social identity construct, here introduced as a supergroup. …
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
A world together
How do global citizens respond to a global health emergency? The present research examined the association between global citizen identification and prosociality using two cross-national datasets-the World Values Survey (Study 1, N = 93,338 from 60 countries and regions) and data collected in 11 countries at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 2, N = 5,427). Results showed that individuals who identified more strongly as global citizens rep…
International differences in employee silence motives
Employee silence, the withholding of work‐related ideas, questions, or concerns from someone who could effect change, has been proposed to hamper individual and collective learning as well as the detection of errors and unethical behaviors in many areas of the world. To facilitate cross‐cultural research, we validated an instrument measuring four employee silence motives (i.e., silence based on fear, resignation, prosocial, and selfish motives) i…
Engaged Onlooking
We examine how social identity processes shape condoning of organisational corruption among onlookers. Two studies examined the willingness of outside observers to condone, or else condemn, corrupt actions of real organisations, a process we call ‘engaged onlookership’ building on the social identity approach to engaged followership. In both Study 1 (cross‐sectional) and Study 2 (experimental), we found that identification with a company guilty o…
Leader Group Prototypicality
Core to the social identity theory of leadership is leader group prototypicality (LGP), the perception of the leader as embodying shared collective (e.g., team, organization) identity. Steffens, Munt, van Knippenberg, Platow, and Haslam’s meta-analysis showed that LGP operationalized as embodying the ideal-type of the group (ideal-type prototypicality, ITP) is more strongly related to indicators of leadership effectiveness than LGP operationalize…
Tackling loneliness together
In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the threats to health posed by loneliness. One of the main strategies that has been recommended to address this is social prescribing (SP). This typically involves general practitioners (GPs) and other health practitioners directing clients who are experiencing loneliness and related conditions to take part in social activities—typically in recreational and community contexts. However, eviden…
Reflective and decisive supervision
Supervisory bodies can intervene in organizational practices that may harm society, but their effectiveness to do so depends on their ability to make decisions reflectively and decisively. Are these tendencies incompatible with each other or can they go together? Can empowering leadership (i.e. participative, coaching, informing behaviors) stimulate reflectiveness and decisiveness? A 10‐item Joint Decision‐Making Questionnaire was developed and t…
Meta‐identification
In the present research, we introduce and develop the concept of meta‐identification – perceptions of others’ identification with a group – and examine its capacity to shape group life. Across two cross‐sectional studies and three experiments ( N total = 3992), we investigate the relationship between participants’ meta‐identification in an intragroup context and their group meaningfulness, collective self‐efficacy, organisational citizenship beha…
Leader performance and prototypicality
Research has demonstrated that leader performance and leader prototypicality are both predictors of leader endorsement. While performance and prototypicality have generally been considered to be independent, this paper suggests that performance and prototypicality are interdependent and have a bi‐directional impact both on each other and on leaders' capacity to engage in identity entrepreneurship (i.e., to define shared group norms and ideals). T…
Of the group’ and ‘for the group’
Previous research has focused on the importance of leaders being seen to be of the group (i.e. to be prototypical of a group) but less on the impact of leaders' own degree of identification with the group. Also, little is known about the combined impact of leader prototypicality and leader identification on followers' responses. This paper reports two studies that address these lacunae. Study 1 shows experimentally that perceived leader identific…
Why a nudge is not enough
Policy makers can use four different modes of governance: ‘hierarchy’, ‘markets’, ‘networks’ and ‘persuasion’. In this article, it is argued that ‘nudging’ represents a distinct (fifth) mode of governance. The effectiveness of nudging as a means of bringing about lasting behaviour change is questioned and it is argued that evidence for its success ignores the facts that many successful nudges are not in fact nudges; that there are instances when …
Multiple Social Identities Enhance Health Post-Retirement Because They Are a Basis for Giving Social Support
We examine the extent to which multiple social identities are associated with enhanced health and well-being in retirement because they provide a basis for giving and receiving social support. Results from a cross-sectional study show that retirees (N = 171) who had multiple social identities following (but not prior to) retirement report being (a) more satisfied with retirement, (b) in better health, and (c) more satisfied with life in general. …
A social identity analysis of responses to economic inequality
A Meta-Analytic Review of Social Identification and Health in Organizational Contexts
We provide a meta-analytical review examining two decades of work on the relationship between individuals’ social identifications and health in organizations (102 effect sizes, k = 58, N = 19,799). Results reveal a mean-weighted positive association between organizational identification and health ( r = .21, T = .14). Analysis identified a positive relationship for both workgroup ( r = .21) and organizational identification ( r = .21), and in stu…
Advancing the social identity approach to health and well‐being
The health of people's body and mind is powerfully conditioned by social factors that affect their social identity. Consistent with this notion, there is a growing interest in the way that group memberships (and the social identities derived from belonging to these groups) affect health and well‐being. To the extent that group memberships provide individuals with meaning, support, and agency (i.e., a positive sense of social identity), health is …
Genius begins at home
The present research examines the extent to which the recognition of creative performance is structured by social group membership. It does this by analysing the award of merit prizes for Best Actor and Actress in a Leading Role for the international award of US ‐based Oscars and British‐based BAFTA s since BAFTA 's inception of this category in 1968. For both awards, the exclusive assessment criterion is the quality of artists’ performance in th…
The Importance of Social Groups for Retirement Adjustment
Previous work in the social identity tradition suggests that adjustment to significant life changes, both positive (e.g., becoming a new parent) and negative (e.g., experiencing a stroke), can be supported by access to social group networks. This is the basis for the social identity model of identity change (SIMIC), which argues that, in the context of life transitions, well‐being and adjustment are enhanced to the extent that people are able to …
Attributions of leaders’ charisma increase after their death
In the present research, we replicate previous research showing that death increases attributions of a leader’s charisma and that this is mediated by followers’ perceptions of a connection between the leader and their group (identity fusion). We also extend previous research by including identity leadership as a further mediator, examining the importance of a leaders’ perceived ability to strengthen the identity of the group they lead. Prediction…
Identity centrality moderates the relationship between acceptance of group‐based stressors and well‐being
Two two‐wave studies were used to examine the proposition that identity centrality enhances the effectiveness of stressor acceptance in the face of group‐based stressors. Study 1 was conducted in newly commencing psychology students ( N = 154). Stressor intensity, psychology student identity centrality, and attempted stressor acceptance were measured at two‐time points over 6‐weeks. Study 2 was conducted in a group of early to late career veterin…
Superstars are not necessarily role models
There is a general assumption that we choose role models from the ranks of those who have demonstrated extraordinary competence. However, the person perception literature supports the expectation that morality may also matter, and that we may be most likely to role model competent individuals if we also believe that they have good moral character. To test this possibility, we conducted four studies of adults’ role modeling of workplace supervisor…
Our Followers Are Lions, Theirs Are Sheep
Two studies examine how self‐categorization theory can be used to refine our understanding of people's implicit theories about followership and social influence. Results from Study 1 show that perceivers regard followers of a group they themselves identify strongly with (rather than not at all) to be more representative of the prototype of effective followers (displaying enthusiasm, industry, good citizenship) and to be less representative of the…
Multiple social groups support adjustment to retirement across cultures
Social cure, what social cure? The propensity to underestimate the importance of social factors for health
Longitudinal Evidence for the Effects of Social Group Engagement on the Cognitive and Mental Health of Chinese Retirees
The current findings demonstrate the generalizability of the health benefits of social group engagement to cognitive health and to a non-Western (Chinese) sample of retirees
Identity economics meets identity leadership
Merger-specific trust cues in the development of trust in new supervisors during an organizational merger
Organizational mergers and subsequent restructurings often create situations in which employees are assigned a new supervisor and they start to form a new relationship. In this study, we investigated how the development of trust in a new supervisor is affected by trust cues specific to the merger context. We conducted a quasi-experiment using three-wave longitudinal data to follow the development of trust throughout two years. About half of the p…
The more you have, the more you want? Higher social class predicts a greater desire for wealth and status
Traditional theories have focused on the intentions of lower‐class individuals to climb on the social ladder, yet they have paid relatively little attention to the motivations of upper‐class individuals to ascend even higher. Addressing this issue, Studies 1 and 2 provided cross‐national evidence that higher social class is associated with a greater desire for wealth and status. Moreover, by manipulating perceived social class, Studies 3 and 5 ex…
The narcissistic appeal of leadership theories
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 i…
The Psychology of Leadership Destabilization
When contesting for political office, leaders do not only seek to build their own following but also to engage in attacks to destabilize opponent leaders. However, research has yet to explore and explain the nature of attacks that seek to destabilize a leader's influence. Building on the identity leadership model which sees leadership as flowing from a leader's capacity to promote a sense of shared identity with followers, we argue that a leader …
Social identity mapping online
721) featuring community, student, new parent, and retiree samples, test the reliability and validity of oSIM. Results indicate that the tool is easy to use, engaging, has good internal consistency as well as convergent and discriminant validity, and predicts relevant outcomes across a range of contexts. Furthermore, using meta-analytic findings, the tool is able to index a higher-order social identity construct, here introduced as a supergroup. …
Life Change, Social Identity, and Health
Life change affects health. Research aimed at understanding the consequences of life change has primarily focused on the important roles played by stress, social support, individual differences, and broader socioeconomic factors in shaping health outcomes, most notably mental health decline. In this review we extend these accounts by exploring social identity–based determinants of adjustment to life change. We do so by drawing on social identity …
Advancing the social identity theory of leadership
This research advances a social identity approach to leadership through a meta-analysis examining four novel hypotheses that clarify the nature and impact of leader group prototypicality (the extent to which a leader is perceived to embody shared social identity). A random-effects meta-analysis ( k = 128, N = 32,834) reveals a moderate-to-large effect of prototypicality that holds across evaluative and behavioral outcomes. The effect is stronger …
Knowing me, knowing us
Psychology (49 obras) · Social Psychology (46 obras) · Political science (32 obras) · Social identity theory (27 obras) · Social group (25 obras) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (23 obras) · Sociology (21 obras) · Social Psychology (18 obras) · Cultural Differences and Values (17 obras) · Identity (music) (12 obras)