Shared social identity content is the basis for leaders’ mobilization of followers

Abstract

Objectives: There is growing research interest in the social identity approach to leadership in sport. Researchers have examined how leaders' representation of a shared social identity allows them to motivate group members but has neglected the role that identity content plays in this process. The present research addresses this issue in two experimental studies that examine the effect of sharedness in identity content (i.e., beliefs about what it means to be a member of a group) on leaders' mobilization of group members. Design: A 2 X 2 experimentalbetween-participantdesign, with two shared and two nonshared conditions. Method: In Study 1, 160 athletes imagined themselves in one of four sport team scenarios and responded to measures of mobilization (e.g., willingness to invest time on task). In Study 2 (laboratory experiment), we manipulated sharedness and assessed 114 participants' behavioural mobilization and task performance. Results: Study 1 supports the hypothesis that identity content that is shared (rather than nonshared) between leaders and group members increases members' willingness to invest time on a task. Study 2 replicates these results and also shows that increased effort among group members mediates the relationship between shared identity content and members' improved task performance. Conclusions: The present research is the first to provide evidence that sport leaders' capacity to mobilize the effort of group members rests upon their ability to build shared identity content.

Doing it for the team: Soccer coaches' identity leadership predicts players' effort, turnover intentions, and performance

“…Finally, fourth, previous work has examined identity leadership in sport and exercise contexts primarily in single teams or those constructed for experimental purposes (Fransen et al, 2016;Fransen et al, 2015;Slater, Coffee, Barker, Haslam, & Steffens, 2019;Stevens et al, 2019). There is also some research that has examined the effects of identity leadership on team players in a natural field context (Steffens et al, 2014;Stevens et al, 2020;Fransen et al, 2019).…”

The Impact of an Authentic Sports Leadership Program for Coach

“…Regarding the development of the internalized moral dimension, role-playing games and reflective tasks that included ethical questioning were used in order to achieve a shared identity that is reflecting the ability of sports leaders to mobilize the efforts of athletes (Slater et al, 2019 ). The coach's self-perception following the analysis of information related to decision-making and balanced processing could be affected by the contents developed in the authentic leadership program.…”

The Importance of Followership in Human Resources

“…Researchers can know group decision‐making and collective behavior better in social animals, including humans, by understanding how leaders and followers change, emerge, or converge (Amornbunchornvej & Berger‐Wolf, 2019). Shared identity between leaders and group members can bring more willingness to invest time on tasks for members (Slater et al., 2019). To be more specific, differences between leader thoughts of follower attributions and actual follower attributions can affect team morale (Coetzee & Henning, 2019).…”