Contingent Leader Identity and Leader Emergence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19280532 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert E Wood (0000-0002-9935-8429, Macquarie University, corresponding author), Shuang Ren (0000-0002-8768-8447, Queen's University Belfast), Bichen Guan (0000-0001-9688-0353, La Trobe University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3506 • E-ISSN: 1467-6494 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/jopy.70070 |
| PMID | 41919598 |
| OpenAlex | W7147571902 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 64 |
INTRODUCTION: Traits, including leader identity, represent cross-situational consistency in responses. Cross-situational variability is treated as random error. We explore cross-situational variability in leader identity goals as a function of self-evaluations and construct an individual difference variable, contingent leader identity, which we hypothesis will supplement the effects of trait leader identity in prediction of leader emergence. METHODS: Data were collected biweekly over 36 weeks from 263 participants in 35 single-sex, initially leaderless student groups. Leader emergence ratings were provided by peers. Multilevel analyses using Mplus 8.6, incorporated within-person ratings of self-evaluations of leadership ability and leader identity, peer ratings of leadership, and control variables. Participants were nested within teams and completed up to 18 questionnaires, creating a three-level design. Slope betas from regression of leader identity on self-evaluations provided the measure of individual contingent leader identity. RESULTS: Contingent leader identity scores ranged from -0.48 to 0.84 and were stable across the first and second half of the study (r = 0.75, p < 0.001). As predicted, individual's contingent leader identity was a significant predictor of their recognition as a leader by their peers in final weeks of the study. CONCLUSION: Contingent leader identity and related CAPS constructs provide an explanatory mechanism for leader behavior in descriptive models of leadership. They also offer the prospect of retesting contingency theories of leadership to establish if leaders do vary their behavior across situations and if situation-behavior contingencies predict effectiveness as proposed in contingency models. Leadership development programs should focus on self-evaluation skills, not just leadership behaviors
Contingency · Contingency theory · Cross-cultural leadership · Focus (optics) · Identity (music) · Leadership · Mechanism (biology) · Social identity theory · Education, Leadership, and Health Research · Ego Development and Educational Practices · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
Leadership and Decision-Making
The Evolving Self
Reconciling Processing Dynamics and Personality Dispositions
Validity of self-evaluation of ability
Leadership in applied psychology
Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?
Constructing Professional Identity
Implicit Leadership Theories in Applied Settings
Understanding and estimating the power to detect cross-level interaction effects in multilevel modeling.
A Social-Cognitive Perspective on Identity Construction
Statistical power in two-level models
A test of leadership categorization theory
Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality.
Flawed Self-Assessment
A multilevel, identity-based approach to leadership development
Leader development across the lifespan
Who lower their aspirations? The development and protective factors of college-associated career aspirations in adolescence
Does thinking of myself as leader make me want to lead? The role of congruence in self-theories and implicit leadership theories in motivation to lead
Where Does Personality Have Its Influence? A Supermatrix of Consistency Concepts
Situation Trait Relevance, Trait Expression, and Cross-Situational Consistency
Identity Change
Whole Trait Theory
The interpersonal signature
Individual differences in the rejection–aggression link in the hot sauce paradigm
Self-evaluative effects of temporal and social comparison
The Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory
The open system in personality theory
| Highly cited | No |
|---|