The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power

by Haslam; Alexander

• ISBN13: 9781841696102
• ISBN10: 1841696102
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-10
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

According to John Adair, the most important word in the leader's vocabulary is "we" and the least important word is "I". But if this is true, it raises one important question: Why do psychological analyses of leadership always focus on the leader as an individual #xE2;#xAC;#x1D; as the great "I"? One answer is that theorists and practitioners have never properly understood the psychology of "we-ness". This book fills this gap by presenting a new psychology of leadership that is the result of two decades of research inspired by social identity and self-categorization theories. The book argues that to succeed, leaders need to create, champion, and embed a group identity in order to cultivate an understanding of 'us' of which they themselves are representative. It also shows how, by doing this, they can make a material difference to the groups, organizations, and societies that they lead. #xE3;#xAC;#xAC; Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book examines a range of central theoretical and practical issues, including the nature of group identity, the basis of authority and legitimacy, the dynamics of justice and fairness, the determinants of followership and charisma, and the practice and politics of leadership. The book will appeal to academics, practitioners and students in social and organizational psychology, sociology, political science and anyone interested in leadership, influence and power.

Author Biography

S. Alexander Haslam is Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Exeter. Stephen D. Reicher is Professor of Psychology at the University of St Andrews. Michael J. Platow is Associate Professor of Psychology at the Australian National University.

Table of Contents

Themes and Perspectives in Developmental Psychology

Behaviorism

Nativism

Maturation and Ethology

Stage Theories: Freud and Piaget

Developmental Psychology

Summary

The Development of Thinking

Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Explanation of Cognitive Development

Traditional Learning Theory as a Contrasting Explanation of Development

A Supplement to Piaget's Theory: Self-centered Adolescents

Summary

Further Reading

Do Piaget's Theory and Findings Stand Up to Examination? Infant Competence

Competence in Early Childhood

Concrete Thought in Adolescence

The Impact of Post-Piagetian Research

Constructivism and Social Constructivism

Summary

Further Reading

What Children Understand about the Mind

Have Children Been Underestimated?

Is Development Stage-like?

What Causes Development?

Competence in Deception

Summary

Further Reading

Autism

What is Autism?

The Theory of Mind Hypothesis

Can Some Children with Autism Acknowledge False Belief?

Inflexibility in Thought

Weak Central Coherence

Summary

Further Reading

Developing an Ability to See the World

Perception of the World as 3-D

Perception of Social Stimuli

The Role of Experience and Learning in Perceptual Development

Summary

Developing an Ability to Draw

Intellectual Realism

Is Intellectual Realism Confined to Early Childhood?

Size of Drawing as an Indication of Significance of the Topic

Children's Drawings in Cases of Incest

Summary

Further Reading

The Role of Heredity and Environment in Intelligence

What is Inherited?

Intelligence: Heredity versus Environment

Describing and Testing the Concept of Intelligence

Problems with Testing Intelligence

Heritability of Intelligence

Evaluating the Twin Studies

Environmental Factors and IQ

The Social Environment

IQ, Elitism, and Racism

Summary

Further Reading

Language Development

The Components of Language

A Description of Language Development

Vocabulary Development

Theories of Language Acquisition

Chomsky's Theory of Innate Language Development

A Second Look at the Environment

Summary

Further Reading

Developing an Ability to Communicate

Egocentric Speech

Young Children's Sensitivity to Their Listener

Strengths and Weaknesses in Young Children's Communication

Do Young Children Treat Utterances as Clues to Meaning?

Children Overestimate Their Ability to Interpret Correctly

Are Young Children Too Literal?

Evaluating Utterances and Detecting Ambiguity

Is Egocentrism Responsible for Children's Communicative Difficulties?

Summary

Parenting and the Development of Love and Attachment

Parenting

Love

Attachment

Types of Attachment

The Sociobiology of Attachment

Single versus Multiple Attachments

Delinquency

Internal Working Model

Summary

Further Reading

Freud's Theory of Personality Development

Freud on Personality and Hysteria

The Tools of Psychoanalysis

The Components of Personality

Stages of Development

Is Freud's Theory Useful?

Summary

Moral Development

Piaget's Moral Realist and Moral Subjectivist

Evaluation of Piaget's Theory

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Reasoning

Evaluation of Kohlberg's Stage Theory

Prosocial Behavior

Moral Emotions

Summary

Further Reading

Development of Antisocial Behavior

What is Aggression?

Are Children Born Good or Bad?

Catharsis, or Learning to be Violent

Aggressive Behavior Can Be Learned

Does Watching Violent TV Make Children Violent?

Naturalistic and Controlled Studies of the Link between TV and Aggression

Exposure to Violent TV Promotes Aggression

Other Influences on Aggression

Frustration as a Cause for Aggression

Attention Seeking and Reject

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