Self-Presentations of Small Group Leaders. Effects of Role Requirements and Leadership Orientation

Two experiments were conducted to examine the self-presentations of task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders in response to situational pressures to adopt a task-oriented or interpersonal leadership style. Leaders of ad hoc groups were led to believe that either a task-oriented or relationship-oriented approach would be most effective in facilitating their group's performance, and the leaders' self-presentations to other group members were assessed. In both studies, leaders conveyed images of themselves to the group that were consistent with the type of leader they believed was needed for maximal effectiveness. In Experiment 1, this effect was partially qualified by subjects' leadership styles (as assessed by the Least Preferred Coworker Scale) and by subject sex. Experiment 2 was conducted to explore the possible mediating effects of leaders' self-confidence in their task versus relationship abilities on their self-presentations, but no effects of self-confidence were obtained. © 1986 American Psychological Association.

Duke Scholars

Author Mark R. Leary Psychology & Neuroscience