4 July 2020 | New Scientist | 33sense of the rise of Ardern in New Zealand
and Marin in Finland. These countries are
both relatively small and isolated, and
under reasonably low levels of threat.
Furthermore, once in power, leaders set
the tone of how a group reacts to a genuine
threat. Following the mosque shootings in
Christchurch last year, for example, Ardern
focused on consoling people and bringing
society back together. In responding to
covid-19, she has exhibited openness,
decisiveness and empathy – traits mirrored by
other prestige leaders including Tsai Ing-wen
in Taiwan and Angela Merkel in Germany.
But are these nothing more than just-so
stories? Mansbridge thinks the idea that
we tend to prefer “strong men” in the face
of threat is an “interesting and fruitful
hypothesis”, but it needs to be explored
further. Dorothy Carter, a psychologist who
heads the Leadership, Innovation, Networks,
and Collaboration Lab at the University of
Georgia is less equivocal. “The evidence is
pretty strong to suggest that when people
experience threat, due to conflict or economicinsecurity, for example, they tend to be more
willing to grant leadership to potential leaders
who exhibit dominant leadership behaviours,”
she says. The evidence is there, agrees
Wendy de Waal-Andrews, who studies social
relations in groups and organisations at Vrije
University. However, she isn’t convinced that
the rise of dominance leadership is recent.
War and natural threats were probably
frequent in prehistoric times, she says.
“The difference with modern societies may
not be so much the extent to which leaders
with a dominant style emerge, but their
ability to remain in a leadership position
after the immediate threat has passed.”
One possible explanation for the pre-
eminence of dominance leadership in today’s
world is a sort of global arms race. “When big
countries start to elect authoritarian leaders,
then other countries feel they have to do that
as well,” says van Vugt. “And that’s a real
warning, I think, for the stability of world
peace and world order.” It isn’t that dominance
leaders are inherently bad, but – whether
from the right, left or centre of politics – itHA
GEN^ HOPKINS/GET
TYIM
AGES>How to rally
followers
There is no leader without
followers. So, to understand
leadership, you need to look
at group dynamics and how
social identity is managed, says
Stephen Reicher at the University
of St Andrews, UK. With that in
mind, he and his colleagues have
identified four dimensions to
effective leadership.
First, a leader must be seen
as one of the group. Second, they
must act for the group above all
other interests. Third, their efforts
for the group must bear fruit. And
finally, leaders must be skilled
“entrepreneurs of identity” to
shape group character. Think of
Trump during his first presidential
bid, when he portrayed himself as
the embodiment of independent,
tough-minded success and vowed
to make America great again.
Of course, no leader has totally
free rein to dictate a group’s identity,
says Reicher. They must tap into
its beliefs and desires, which
makes the positions of leader
and followers somewhat fluid.
Jacinda Ardern
hugs a woman
following the
Christchurch
mosque killings
in March 2019