Abstract:
Leadership has been investigated extensively over the past century, and it is a field that continues to grow. Traditional leadership literature has primarily been focused on investigating leadership effectiveness. However, recent studies have also begun investigations on broader aspects of leadership. In particular, the topic of ‘leadership preferences’ has gained favour among a group of researchers, especially over the past decade. This research set out to investigate the influences of subordinates’ authoritarianism (measured by RWA), social dominance attitudes (measured by SDO), and situational threat on leadership preferences along two leadership dimensions. Two independent studies were conducted; Study One investigated preferences for a democratic versus autocratic leader, and Study Two investigated preferences for a supportive versus non-supportive leader. Study One findings indicated that RWA and SDO and situational threat significantly influenced preferences for a democratic versus autocratic leader. Specifically, high-RWA and high-SDO participants preferred the autocratic leader significantly more when compared to low-RWA and low-SDO participants, and the participants were significantly more favourable to the autocratic leader in the threat condition compared to non-threat. However, interaction effects between RWA and SDO and situational threat were non-significant on democratic versus autocratic leadership preference. Overall, the findings of Study One are consistent with prior research that have shown associations between preference for autocratic/authoritarian leaders and RWA, SDO, and threat. In Study Two, no main or interaction effects were found for RWA and SDO and situational threat. This suggested that the supportive leader was preferred over the non-supportive leader regardless of RWA, SDO, and threat manipulation. The findings of Study Two are consistent with research that suggest considerate/caring/ relationship-oriented leaders are generally preferred by the followers.
