THEORIES ON

GROUP
DYNAMICS
LEADERSHIP EMERGENCE

“WHO WILL LEAD?”

 IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP
THEORY
(Robert Lord et. al.)

Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT) is a

cognitive theory of leadership which
suggests that group members have implicit
expectations and assumptions about the
personal characteristics, traits, and qualities
that are inherent in a leader. These
assumptions guide an individual’s
perceptions and responses to leaders.
 SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
(Henry Tajfel)

Social identity is a person’s sense of who

they are based on their group
membership(s).

Henry Tajfel (1979) proposed that the

groups which people belonged to were an
important source of pride and self-esteem.
Groups give us a sense of social identity: a
sense of belonging to the social world.
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
OUTLINE

SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION

SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION

SOCIAL COMPARISON
 SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
(Michael Hogg et. al.)

Social identity processes influence a wide

range of leadership processes, including who
the group selects to be their leader.
Individuals who identify with their group
include in their self-definition – their social
identity – qualities that they share in
common with other group members.
 SOCIAL ROLE THEORY
(Alice Eagly)

A conceptual analysis of sex differences

recognizing that men and women take on
different types of roles in many societies,
and that these role expectations generate
gender stereotypes and differences in the
behavior of men and women.

This also suggests that group members have

definite expectations about what kind of
qualities are needed in a person who will fill
the role of a leader.
 TERROR MANAGEMENT
THEORY

A conceptual analysis of the implicit

psychological processes thought to defend
individuals from the emotionally terrifying
knowledge that they are mortal and will
someday die.
 EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Evolutionary Psychology suggests that

leadership is an adaptation: a heritable
characteristic that developed in a population
over a long period of time.
LEADER EFFECTIVENESS
 FIEDLER’S CONTINGENCY
THEORY
(Fred Fiedler)

Contingency Theory assumes that leadership

effectiveness is contingent on both the
leader’s motivational style and the leader’s
capacity to control the group situation.
• Motivational Style
Fiedler suggests that leaders naturally tend to
adopt one of two leadership styles, which he
measured using the Least Preferred Co-Worker
Scale (LPC Scale).

• Situational Control
If leaders can control the situation, they can be
certain that decisions, actions, and suggestions
will be carried out by the group members.
 SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
THEORY
(Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard)

Situational Leadership Theory suggests that

effective leaders combine supportive
behaviors with directive behaviors
depending on the developmental level, or
maturity, of the group or subordinate.
 LEADER-MEMBER
EXCHANGE THEORY
LMX Theory is a dyadic, relational approach to
leadership assuming that leaders develop exchange
relationships with each of their subordinates, and
that the quality of these leader-member exchange
relationships influences subordinates’ responsibility,
decision influence, access to resources, and
performance.

LMX Theory uniquely stresses the quality of the one-

to-one relationship between a leader and a
subordinate.