Leadership and followership identity processes: A multilevel review ☆

By O. Epitropaki, R. Kark, C. Mainemelis, R. Lord. 2017

303 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes. Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature on leader and follower identity. In this review we map existing studies on a multilevel framework that integrates levels-of-the self (individual, relational and collective) with the levels-of-analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal and group) on which leader or follower identity work takes place. We also synthesize work from multiple research paradigms, such as social psychology experimental studies, narrative accounts of leaders' identity work and field studies on antecedents, outcomes, mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions. Finally, we outline implications for leadership development and call attention to key themes we see ripe for future research.

Subfields: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8f0cdad877e678a78a07c07c2d62bd78fe702571

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In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and leadership (2018, background): “At the same time, the leadership literature has been critiqued for its plethora of similar constructs (Banks, McCauley, Gardner, and Guler, 2016; Epitropaki et al., 2017; Yukl, 2012).”
Advancing the social identity theory of leadership: A meta-analytic review of leader group prototypicality (2020, background): “…functioning (Lord et al., 1999; Shamir et al., 1993; van Knippenberg et al., 2004), yet in recent years an increasing number of researchers have studied social identity dynamics as the basis of leadership in ways proposed by social identity theorizing (for a review, see Epitropaki et al., 2017).”
Why leadership of public leadership research matters: and what to do about it (2018, background): “Social identity leadership theory, recently reviewed by Epitropaki et al. (2017) also may be fertile ground for public leadership scholars.”
Identity work in organizations and occupations: Definitions, theories, and pathways forward (2018, background): “In addition, the research on leader and manager identity stresses the importance of relational identity work when individuals attempt to position themselves as leaders in relation to followers (e.g., Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2003; Ely et al., 2011; Epitropaki et al., 2017).”
Not All Followers Socially Learn from Ethical Leaders: The Roles of Followers’ Moral Identity and Leader Identification in the Ethical Leadership Process (2019, background): “personal and relational/social identity have been shown to have synergistic effects (Brewer and Gardner 1996; Epitropaki et al. 2017; Postmes and Jetten 2006), suggesting that the relationship between ethical leadership and ethical role model perception might vary under different conditions generate”
An Identity Perspective on Ethical Leadership to Explain Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Interplay of Follower Moral Identity and Leader Group Prototypicality (2019, background): “In line with more general theorizing on leadership and identity (Epitropaki et al. 2017), recent work suggests that ethical leaders particularly speak to followers’ moral selfconcept—i.e., their moral identity (Stets and Carter & Fabiola H. Gerpott f.h.gerpott@vu.nl Niels Van Quaquebeke…”