Psychological Perspectives of Leadership

You might be wondering what psychology has to do with leadership. If so, don’t worry. Initially, many people question the seemingly unlikely pairing of psychology and leadership. As you complete the readings this week and progress through the course, you will discover that psychology is tremendously useful for understanding how and why certain people emerge as leaders and what makes them effective or ineffective. For this Discussion, you will consider various psychological perspectives of leadership.

Some psychological perspectives of leadership suggest that psychological traits, such as personality and self-confidence, are vital in the emergence and effectiveness of leaders. Others attribute followers’ perceptions, thoughts, and feelings to the emergence and effectiveness of leaders.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the article “A Social Identity Theory of Leadership” and consider the social identity perspective of leadership. Think about leadership as a group process.
• Review the article “Abraham Maslow, Humanistic Psychology, and Organization Leadership: A Jungian Perspective.” Reflect on the humanistic and psychodynamic perspectives of leadership. Think about how motivation and personality might contribute to leadership.
• Consider the social identity, humanistic, and psychodynamic psychological perspectives of leadership.
• Select two psychological perspectives of leadership. Consider how such perspectives are similar to and different from each other.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a comparison (similarities and differences) of two different psychological perspectives of leadership. Then explain conclusions or insights you might draw from your comparison.

REFERENCES

• Course Text: Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.
• • Chapter 1, “Introduction”
• Article: Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 169-180.
  Use the PsycARTICLES database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: gpr-9-2-169
• Article: Hogg, M. A. (2001). A social identity theory of leadership. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 5(3), 184-200.
  Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 4802751
• Article: Schott, R. L. (1992). Abraham Maslow, humanistic psychology and organization leadership: A Jungian perspective. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 32(1), 106-120.
  Available here .