The role of subjective theories for leadership evaluation

Abstract

The current article argues that taking subjective theories of both the rater and ratee into consideration contributes to a deeper understanding of leadership evaluations. In the present study, individuals' pre-existing implicit personality theory (Dweck, 1996 Dweck, C. S. 1996. “Implicit theories as organizers of goals and behavior”. In The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior, Edited by: Gollwitzer, P. M. and Bargh, J. A. 69–90. New York: Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]) was measured in an organizational setting and was identified as a moderating variable for leadership assessments (108 participants). It was shown that when judging their managers, raters who believe in the ability to change and the dynamic nature of personality (“incremental theorists”) place significantly stronger weight on the situation and dynamic factors, while raters who believe in the stability of human characteristics (“entity theorists”) focus more strongly on their relationship to these people. Moreover, managers with entity theory are judged significantly more positively than managers with an incremental theory. In view of these findings, implications are derived for the measurement of leadership behaviour as well as information concerning the application of leadership behaviour in an organizational setting.