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Followership, deity and leadership
Author(s) -
Popper Micha
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal for the theory of social behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.615
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5914
pISSN - 0021-8308
DOI - 10.1111/jtsb.12096
Subject(s) - followership , construal level theory , transcendental number , epistemology , meaning (existential) , frame (networking) , psychology , attribution , social psychology , ideal (ethics) , sociology , philosophy , computer science , telecommunications
Abstract Two questions are addressed in this article: 1. Why are people attracted to leaders? 2. How are leaders' images construed? The first question is analyzed by using the concept of “deity” as a frame of reference for an “ideal model” of leadership. God as a “screen of projections” can satisfy the believer's fundamental needs and desires, as well as serving as a reference for causal attributions and a provider of transcendental meaning. Using Construal Level Theory (CLT) (Libermann & Trope, 1998), deity, as a frame of reference, also facilitates analysis of the second question. This analysis explains universal principles underlying the leadership construal, and the psychological principles and culture‐bound processes relevant to construing different images of leadership in different collectives.