Objective

Why do dominant leaders rise to power via the popular vote? This research tests whether when people feel threatened by intra-group disorder they desire stronger, more dominant leaders.

Methods

Participants (N = 1,026) read a vignette that depicts a within-group norm violation. We then used a between-subjects design to randomly assign participants to a specific version of the vignette in which (a) a focal target individual in the scenario varied in their dominance (punitiveness: from no to moderate to strong); and (b) the local group faced little or substantial intra-group conflict and disorder (threat: from low to high). Following this, participants reported how much they endorse the target individuals as leader and the individual’s perceived prestige.

Results

We find that intra-group conflict motivates a psychology that favors the rise of dominant leaders: Highly punitive individuals (seen as highly dominant) are endorsed as leaders when in-group threat is high, but comparably disfavored when threat is low. Under low threat, non-punitive individuals (who are seen as less dominant) are endorsed as leaders. Subsequent analyses reveal that these shifts in leader preferences are explained by corresponding changes in prestige. Under conditions of high threat, dominance confers prestige, whereas under low threat, dominance suppresses prestige. Tests of mediation further show that the effect of dominance on increased leader support under high threat is mediated by prestige.

Conclusions

In contexts of threat, such as internal disorder, dominant leaders are favored and gain prestige, owing to their perceived ability to supply benefits such as in mediating internal conflicts.

中文翻译：

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当强硬赢得尊重时：主导个人通过促进群体内冲突的解决而获得威望和领导力

客观的

为什么占主导地位的领导人能够通过民众投票上台？这项研究测试了当人们感到受到群体内部混乱的威胁时，他们是否会渴望更强大、更具统治力的领导者。

方法

参与者 ( N  = 1,026) 阅读描述群体内违反规范行为的小插图。然后，我们使用受试者间设计将参与者随机分配到特定版本的小插图中，其中（a）场景中的焦点目标个体的主导地位有所不同（惩罚性：从无到中到强）； (b) 当地群体很少或面临大量的群体内冲突和混乱（威胁：从低到高）。随后，参与者报告了他们对目标个人作为领导者的认可程度以及个人的威望。

结果

我们发现，群体内冲突会激发一种有利于主导领导者崛起的心理：当群体内威胁较高时，高度惩罚性的个人（被视为高度主导的）会被认可为领导者，但当威胁较低时，他们会相对不受青睐。在低威胁下，非惩罚性个人（被认为不那么具有统治力）被认可为领导者。随后的分析表明，领导者偏好的这些变化可以通过相应的威望变化来解释。在高威胁的情况下，统治地位赋予威望，而在低威胁的情况下，统治地位抑制威望。中介测试进一步表明，在高威胁下，支配地位对增加领导者支持的影响是由声望调节的。

结论

在面临威胁（例如内部混乱）的情况下，占主导地位的领导人会受到青睐并获得威望，因为他们被认为有能力提供利益，例如调解内部冲突。