In collective movements, some individuals are more effective and attractive leaders than others. Parameters such as social network, personality, and physiologic needs failed to explain why group members follow one leader more than another. In this study in the domestic horse, we propose to focus on the leader’s attitude and its impact to the followers’ recruitment during two conditions: spontaneous group departures or experimentally induced departures. We postulate that the expressiveness of the leader could enhance its attractiveness and thus produce a successful followership. We found that a high expressiveness level is associated with a high curiosity score and with a low social status. This propensity to initiate while being expressive was higher in the experimental condition than in the spontaneous condition which was expected, since the experimental procedure sought to increase the motivation of initiators with a highly appetent reward. Moreover, the more intense the leader’s expressiveness is, the faster the followers will join the movement regardless of the condition. This positive and dynamic attitude can be perceived as an attractive feature by the followers. Finally, we evidenced collective arousal in followers initiated by the leader that could be essential for group cohesion. The present study is the first to investigate the expressiveness level in animals, and provides new insights into the emergence of leadership.

中文翻译：

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领导者的表现力如何影响家养马（马属马）的追随者？

在集体运动中，有些人比其他人更有效和更具吸引力。诸如社交网络，个性和生理需求之类的参数无法解释为什么小组成员跟随一位领导人比另一位领导人更多。在这项关于家养马的研究中，我们建议关注领导者的态度及其对跟随者在以下两种情况下招募者的影响：自发群体离开或实验性离开。我们假设领导者的表现力可以增强其吸引力，从而产生成功的追随者。我们发现，较高的表达水平与较高的好奇心评分和较低的社会地位有关。在实验条件下，表达时启动的倾向高于预期的自发条件，因为该实验程序试图通过具有高度认可的奖励来增加发起者的动机。此外，领导者的表现力越强，无论情况如何，跟随者加入运动的速度就越快。追随者可以将这种积极和动态的态度视为具有吸引力的特征。最后，我们证明了领导者发起的追随者的集体唤醒可能对团队凝聚力至关重要。本研究是第一个研究动物表达水平的研究，并为领导力的出现提供了新的见解。追随者可以将这种积极和动态的态度视为具有吸引力的特征。最后，我们证明了领导者发起的追随者的集体唤醒可能对于团队凝聚力至关重要。本研究是第一个研究动物表达水平的研究，并为领导力的出现提供了新的见解。追随者可以将这种积极和动态的态度视为具有吸引力的特征。最后，我们证明了领导者发起的追随者的集体唤醒可能对于团队凝聚力至关重要。本研究是第一个研究动物表达水平的研究，并为领导力的出现提供了新的见解。