Psychology 2061A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Great Man Theory, Contingency Theory, Theory-Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2061A/B
• Professor: Tara Lee

Document Summary

2 ways in which we use the term leadership: (1) leadership is sometimes used to refer to the emergence of leaders. Who will become the leader of the group or rise to power in an organization? (2) more common in i/o research, leadership is sometimes used to refer to the relative effectiveness of leadership. Organizational researchers are so interested in leadership because most believe leadership is related to other outcomes we are interested in. Effective leadership can enhance group processes or job performance and ultimately organizational productivity and profitability. We tend to judge whether a leader is effective or not based on the success of the organization he or she leads. We fail to recognize that the success of organizations is most likely due to multitude of factors. Charisma the ability to influence others simply by strength of character; typically refers to being popular and influential and is often thought of as a personality trait.