Presidential popularity depends on personality fit with the era, but greatness does not

Evidence

Three leader trait and leader-follower interaction models of leader appeal and leader performance are evaluated with data about the motive profiles of American presidents and American society, in both cases measured at a distance. Presidential appeal, defined in terms of electoral success, is significantly correlated with the congruence or match between the president’s motive profile and that of his contemporary society. In contrast, presidential greatness, as rated by historians, as well as several important outcomes involving war and peace are associated with certain of the president’s motives by themselves, but not with president-society congruence. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1278

Categorization

• QUESTION: This president-society congruence finding is worth chasing: what specific motives mattered in which eras, and does this predict modern (post-1960s) elections?
• XREF: Connects to the ‘great person’ theory of leadership debate and implicit followership theory in organizational psychology. — connects to: Discrepant presidents historically outperform congruent ones — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 1362