Current Research in Social Psychology

This study develops and tests a model of followers' attribution of charismatic qualities to their leader. The model stipulates that, leaders' visions being equal, followers' attributions of charisma to their leader will be determined by their leader's individual attributes and situational contexts. Specifically, this study theorizes that leaders' attributes, such as competence and sacrifice, become an important basis for followers to infer charismatic qualities from their leader. In addition to these leadership attributes, this study also postulates that situational contexts such as uncertainty and crises perceived by followers are also conducive to their attributions. Drawing upon the theories and literature, we derived two main and three interaction-effect hypotheses; the hypotheses were tested with data from vignette studies that included 501 Americans and 259 Koreans. Consistent with the main hypothesis predictions, the results revealed that subjects attributed more charisma to their leaders when the latter exhibited greater self-sacrifice and superior competence. The results also showed moderation effects on leaders' competence by sacrifice (American subjects) and on leaders' sacrifice by situational uncertainty (Korean subjects). The implications of these findings will be discussed in detail. Current Research in Social Psychology (Vol. 11, No. 5) (Choi and Yoon) 52 Since M. Weber (1864-1920) introduced the notion of charisma, charismatic leadership has profoundly influenced generations of social scientists. Although sociologists and political scientists in the early 1960s and 1970s took the lead in the first generation of the research (Etzioni, 1975; Blau, 1963; Willner, 1968; Friedrich, 1961), it is organizational psychologists in the 1990s who have established charismatic leadership as one of the most prolific research paradigms. Cracking the code of mystical charisma, the so-called neo-Weberians (Jermier, 1993; Calas, 1993; Conger, 1989) have advanced our knowledge of it in various aspects, such as its personality correlates (House, Spangler, & Woycke, 1991), behaviors (Biggart, 1989; Conger, 1989), and types of competencies (House, 1977; Bass, 1985; Howell & Frost, 1989). Our study is part of these larger efforts attempting to understand previously unknown profiles of charisma in organizational areas. Weber (1968) defines charisma as "a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is considered extraordinary and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities" (p. 241). In this definition, Weber (1968, p.242) made it clear that charisma is determined not only by the personal profiles of a leader, but also by followers' responses to and beliefs in their leaders. Followers attribute their leader's charisma through the processes of their own validation and perception. Endorsing this attribution approach, Willner (1984) also suggests that charismatic leadership is largely relational and perceptual: "It is not what the leader is but what people see the leader as that counts in generating the charismatic relationship" (p.14). Conger and Kanungo (1987) also indicate that the image of charismatic leaders is socially constructed and validated by followers' attributions. In a similar context, Ayman (1993) argues that followers have their own implicit theories on how a leader should be or behave and these implicit theories shape followers' attributions of charisma to their leader. Elaborating on this argument, Schyns and Sanders (2003, 2004; Schyns, 2001) demonstrate how followers' self-efficacy and moods affect their implicit theories on leaders. According to this follower-attribution perspective, the response of followers is the critical test of charisma. A person cannot be regarded as a charismatic leader unless followers acknowledge the person's exceptional qualities (Jermier, 1993; Bryman, 1993; Shamir, 1991; also see Etzioni, 1975, pp. 305-305). Followers' attributions operate as essential links between leaders' profiles and the social construction of charismatic leadership among followers. In line with this follower-attribution approach, we highlight two leadership profiles based on which followers attribute charisma to their leader: self-sacrificial behavior and superior competence. We define competence as the state or quality of personal attributes such as skills, expertise, and knowledge that allow the holder to gain a competitive advantage over others (McClelland, 1961, 1976); competency is not the performance itself but constitutes the potential for performance (Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999). Self-sacrificial behavior is an abandonment or postponement of personal interests and privileges for the collective welfare (Choi & Mai-Dalton, 1999). We differentiate sacrificial behavior from competency by tying competency to a person's internal attributes such as skills, expertise, and knowledge that are not necessarily expressed in behaviors. The goal of this study is to examine how and to what extent superior competencies and selfsacrificial behaviors demonstrated by a leader determine followers' attributions of charismatic leadership to that leader. The key questions we attempt to answer are as follows: (1) whether the Current Research in Social Psychology (Vol. 11, No. 5) (Choi and Yoon) 53 leadership profiles of sacrificial behavior and competency play an independent role in inducing followers' attributions of charisma or they have a synergy effect prompted by each other; (2) whether social and organizational contexts (e.g., uncertainties and risks) play a role in the attribution beyond the leadership profiles of competence and sacrificial behavior In the sections that follow, we review the literature of charisma and derive specific hypotheses on the attribution of charisma. Then we will test the hypotheses with the sample of Americans and Koreans. CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP Research on charismatic leadership indicates that a comprehensive understanding of charismatic leadership requires the following aspects of human agency and structural forces (Jermier, 1993; Beyer, 1999; Trice and Beyer, 1986): (1) a set of appealing ideas or visions; (2) profiles of an extraordinarily gifted person; (3) a set of followers and their mechanisms of attribution; and (4) social contexts such as crises and uncertainties. In the review of each aspect, we will highlight the processes through which and the conditions under which followers infer charismatic leadership from their leaders. Weber singles out vision as the most important component in charismatic authority: "The bearer of charisma enjoys loyalty and authority by virtue of a mission (or vision) believed to be embodied in him" (1968, p.1117). Leadership researchers also agree that vision is a primary source of charismatic leadership (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Bass, 1990; Conger & Kanungo, 1987; Tichy & Devanna, 1986). A leader's vision contrasts an idealized future with the current state; the visualized gap, in turn, drives followers to follow the path leading to the better future. The vision also enhances a common organizational identity among followers, invoking the shared stake in their future. As followers experience more motivational boosts and common identity with a vision, followers will try to interpret the sources and are likely to attribute the credit to the charismatic qualities of their leader, who initiated the vision. A salient vision is just the first step for the charismatic leader. Once a vision is articulated, charismatic leaders should be able to communicate and plant it in the minds of followers. Only when a vision is communicated thoroughly, so that followers own it, can those followers believe in the powerful presence of an idealized future and devote themselves to its implementation (House, 1977; Bass, 1985). Before followers decide to accept the vision as their own, however, they want to verify their leader's ability to realize the vision; therefore, they will seek out relevant information from various sources concerning their leader's competence (Bass, 1985; House, 1977), inspirational confidence (Berlew, 1974; Conger, 1989), dominance (House, 1977), and rhetorical ability (Conger, 1989). Weber (1968) also draws attention to this issue of credibility by defining charisma as a special personal quality or gift endorsed by God, by virtue of which followers consider their leader extraordinary and supernatural. We also postulate that, as a leader demonstrates more competencies, followers are likely to perceive their leader's ability to realize the vision to be more credible, and thus attribute charisma to their leader. Charismatic leaders also take on high personal risks and engage in self-sacrificing activities to communicate their commitment to the vision (Choi & Mai-Dalton, 1999). Compared with other Current Research in Social Psychology (Vol. 11, No. 5) (Choi and Yoon) 54 leadership behaviors such as articulating and communicating an ideological goal or vision, showing high expectations and confidence in followers, taking extraordinary risks and setting a personal example of the values inherent in the vision (Biggart, 1989; Conger, 1989; Puffer, 1990), sacrifice has received little research attention (see Halverson et al. 2004 for an exception). Despite this lack of research, self-sacrificial behaviors by leaders are known to be crucial in priming and mobilizing followers' voluntary participation in their own sacrifices, especially when none are willing to commit personal sacrifices in crises and uncertainties. Choi and MaiDalton's (1999) study shows that self-sacrificial behaviors have been common practices by most historic corporate gurus in various organizational domains such as (a) the division of labor, (b) the distribution of rewards, and (c) the exercise of power (Choi & Mai-Dalton, 1999); they also maintain that self-sacrifice by a leader is one of the most prominent leadership behaviors for heightening followers' perceptions of charisma in their leader. Leaders are perceived to be credible when they devote themselves to a position in a disinterested manner and show a real concern for their followers' needs, rather than for their own self-interest. Following this research lead on sacrificial leadership, we propose that the more that leaders are prepared to take on higher personal risks or incur higher costs across the domains, the more likely are followers to perceive them to be charismatic in the sense of being worthy of trust and obedience. Some have also argued that contexts such as uncertainty and crisis are conducive to the emergence of charismatic leadership, and that followers' perceptions on such contexts prompt their attributions of charismatic leadership (Blau, 1963; Jacobsen & House, 2001; Willner, 1984; Conger & Kanungo, 1987; Conger, 1993; Halverson, Holladay, Kazama, and Quinones, 2004). Weber has explicitly pointed this out by indicating that a charismatic leader is likelier to emerge under certain conditions of distress and crisis (1968, p. 1112). When an organization faces crises and uncertainties, charismatic leaders leverage such situations to advocate a new vision of the future (Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993; Hunt, Boal, & Dodge, 1999). Shils (1965) also indicates that charismatic qualities are more likely to be attributed to a leader when the vision articulated by the leader presents "an order-creating, order-disclosing, order-discovering power, under such uncertainties and crises" (p. 204). According to these arguments, perceptions of charisma among followers would be stronger when the situations followers perceive in their organization are uncertain or risky. For instance, when followers frame a situation negatively, full of distress and crisis, the situation is more conducive to the emergence of charisma. By contrast, if followers frame a situation positively by perceiving the stable growth of opportunities rather than threats or crises, they will perceive their leader to be charismatic only if he or she convinces followers of the need for a more promising future with constructed crises. As such, when uncertainties and crises increase the distress experienced by followers, followers are more likely to seek someone who can resolve the challenges.