ONLINE: Am I A Leader, Really? Implicit Leader Identity and Leadership Behaviours

Leadership scholars were among the earliest to discuss implicit processes (i.e., implicit theory of leader categorization, Eden & Leviatan, 1975), yet the use of implicit measures in leadership research is quite rare. In this presentation, I will provide a brief overview of implicit processes and most commonly used implicit measures in OB/IO research. I will then illustrate the use of implicit measures in leadership by discussing the development of an implicit measure of leader identity using an Implicit Association Test (IAT) approach. The results of two studies show support for the validity of the new measure. Furthermore, the findings suggest that explicit and implicit leader identities have different effects on leadership attitudes and behaviours. My hope is to inspire more OB/IO scholars to develop and use implicit measures in their research.