The value of leaders we trust and leaders who make us stronger: exploring the distinct contributions of different components of identity leadership to group member outcomes.

Gleibs, Ilka H. ORCID: 0000-0002-9913-250X (2025) The value of leaders we trust and leaders who make us stronger: exploring the distinct contributions of different components of identity leadership to group member outcomes. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. ISSN 1368-4302 (In Press)

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Abstract

This study investigates the critical role of social identity in leadership, specifically examining Identity Leadership (IL) and the unique contributions of its four sub-dimensions: identity prototypicality, identity advancement, identity entrepreneurship, and identity impresarioship. To date, research has largely focused on the global construct of identity leadership and shown that in organizational contexts, it is a predictor of a range of outcomes, including group members’ burnout and organizational citizenship. However, the distinct roles of the four sub-dimensions remain little understood. Extending earlier findings, we address this gap by testing the hypothesis that the four sub-dimensions are differentially implicated in two key mechanisms that underlie the relationship between IL and group outcomes: (1) trust in the leader and (2) team identification. The present study explores this proposition by using structural equation modeling with latent factors to test a mediation model in 2020/2021 data from the Global Identity Leadership Development project (GILD; N = 7,855). As hypothesized, we found that identity prototypicality and identity advancement predominantly predicted greater trust in the leader, whereas identity entrepreneurship primarily predicted greater team identification. Contrary to our hypothesis, identity impresarioship showed a negative relation with trust. In turn, both trust in the leader and team identification were positively associated with organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and negatively with burnout. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of these findings for both the theory and practice of leadership.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	16 Jun 2025 14:51
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2025 15:21
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128417

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