Modern Leadership Psychology

Author: Hu Yuexing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The study of leader psychology and leadership competency is an important part of leadership science, management science, and modern psychological science research. Reviewing the basic history of leader psychology research, this field has become increasingly significant and prominent with the development of the times. In the late 19th century, Western scholars proposed the leadership traits theory, believing that "leadership is innate," possessing unique personality traits and charm that others do not have, and having the special ability to lead others. Due to the limitations of the era and research perspective, this theory was gradually questioned later. Starting from the 20th century, the leadership behavior theory emerged. One important viewpoint of the behavior theory is that leadership is not innate; leadership qualities are the result of post-natal training and cultivation. In effective leadership, a leader's personal qualities are not the only factor. Leadership behavior can be observed and described, and its research results are more objective and accurate. Researchers from Ohio State University in the United States specifically developed the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire, proposing a survey method to measure leadership behavior, achieving significant breakthroughs in leader psychology research. However, the behavior theory only emphasized the observation of behavior and did not consider the important influence of organizational culture and social environment factors on leader psychology behavior. In the 1960s, the leadership contingency theory emerged. Its basic viewpoint holds that a leader's personality traits and the effectiveness of leadership behavior are closely linked to social environment, organizational culture, and other factors, with situational factors being more important than leadership qualities and behavior. The leadership contingency theory broadened people's perspectives and greatly promoted the in-depth development of leader psychology research.